Q, Continued
by SamoaPhoenix9
Summary: What if Q Junior wasn't given his powers back at the end of Q2? A look at his time with Voyager's crew, the relationships he builds, and the lessons he learns. Will he ever demonstrate "exemplary Q-ness" and be able to go home?
1. Judgment Day

**Q, Continued**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of these characters._

"Court is adjourned."

With the gavel bang, Q felt the truth settle into him and take hold. He was human now. For good. He couldn't move, so great was his shock. He'd survived his week without his Q powers on the knowledge that the Continuum—and his father—would never go so far as to actually _force_ him to stay mortal, no matter what he did. He'd always slithered out of any other consequences to his actions by one means or another. Somehow he'd assumed that would be the case here as well.

Vaguely, he heard his father shouting something about an outrage. "They can't do this to me!" the older Q yelled to the air.

_To him? What a joke,_ Q thought as his father vanished. _He's not the one stuck as a powerless biped with a measly sixty or seventy years left to exist._

He heard someone's heeled shoes approaching. To his shock, Q found it was Aunt Kathy—Captain Janeway. He'd completely forgotten she was in the room for the hearing as well. Gently she put an arm around his shoulders. Her face read nothing but compassion and concern.

Q looked down. He didn't deserve either of those emotions from her; he'd just finished betraying her yet again on a trip that had injured a member of her crew. How could she forgive him? Again?

And what was he going to do stuck as a human?

There was a long silence. At last, Janeway said, "Are you all right?"

That did it. Pity was the last thing he wanted from anyone, least of all her. "I'm…going to my quarters," he managed.

She let him go. Q stumbled through the halls of Voyager in a fog but found himself almost by accident at the quarters Janeway had assigned him. There he perched on the bed in the small, bare room, staring at the offwhite bulkhead and wishing he could disappear.

Eventually he had to think. That was one small advantage to being human instead of an amoeba: his mental abilities were still intact. But that made it all the worse. If he were an amoeba, he wouldn't care that he used to be a being with unlimited control of space, matter and time. Now he thought he understood why being human was considered the "next worst fate" above an amoeba by his judges from the Continuum: capable of thought, and remembering, but trapped in a weak and helpless form. Humans relied on _weapons_ to defend themselves, for Univerese's sake. They got around the universe so _slowly_ with their pathetic warp drive. They didn't even have the advantage of superior cognitive or physical abilities over most species in the universe. And now he was one of them. He'd never felt so…insignificant.

What to do now? Barring pleading with the Continuum to reinstate him, which he dismissed as a waste of now-precious breath, he saw two options: remain on Voyager, or ask to be dropped on a planet that would support his physiology.

The second option appealed; the human body couldn't survive long in the most interesting places in the universe, but he'd make do. At the very least he wouldn't have to deal with all the people he'd let down. Including Janeway. And Icheb.

Icheb! Q shot up. He hadn't checked on Icheb yet. His father had said Icheb would be fine, but Q wouldn't put it past him to revoke Icheb's "miraculous" recovery as some form of retaliation on his son for his failure.

Q shot down the corridors, dodging crew members and ignoring the annoyed and disgusted looks some of them were giving him. He deserved them. Icheb's well-being was what he cared about right now, not the opinions of lowly… He stopped that thought. Not lowly. _Fellow_ humans.

Ugh. This whole idea of humanity going to take some getting used to.

The doors of Sickbay swished open. Q came charging in, only to stop short at the sight of the empty bio bed where he'd left Icheb.

"Oh, it's you again." Voyager's annoying holographic Doctor came out of his office area. "I take it your mission to find out more about the Chokuzon weapon was a success?"

"What?" For a second Q had to wrack his brains to remember what the hologram was talking about. "Oh, that. Well, sort of. They turned out to be my father giving me some sort of test. By the way, I'm human for good now, thanks. The Continuum wouldn't have me back. Where's Icheb?"

"I gave him a clean bill of health and sent him back to his duties in the Astrometrics Lab fifteen minutes ago," the Doctor replied. "He made quite a miraculous recovery, which I presume coincided with the conclusion of whatever test Q was giving you. And I'm sorry to hear you won't be leaving us."

Q glared at him. "Very funny. I was looking forward to getting off this ship as much as you all were to seeing the last of me." He spun on his heel and stalked out.

"Wait…if you'll let me run a few scans—" the Doctor called after him as Sickbay doors shut.

Q ignored him. No doubt the Doctor wanted to make sure he was fully human with no lingering Q traits that would make him dangerous to the crew. Q knew it was a waste of time. The Continuum wouldn't have left him so much as a scrap of power to abuse.

The Astrometrics Lab was occupied by Icheb and Seven of Nine. Seven glanced at the doors when they opened, registered their visitor, and went back to whatever she was doing. Q knew that in her Borg mind he'd been dismissed as irrelevant for the time being.

Icheb turned and saw Q. His usually emotionless former-Borg face went even colder, if that was possible.

"Hi…Icheb," Q said, defeating the urge to use the nickname "Ichy." People skills might not be his strong suit, but he had a sense that it would not be welcome at this juncture in time.

"Hello." Icheb, too, turned back to what he had been doing.

"Um…how are you feeling?" Q ventured.

No answer. The silence got uncomfortable. Q was on the verge of cutting his losses and leaving when, to his surprise, Seven of Nine spoke. "Q inquired about your health, Icheb. It would be polite of you to respond."

Icheb glanced at Q again. "Fine. I feel fine."

"Good." Another pause. "Look, Icheb, I just wanted to say…I'm sorry. For all of it. For what it's worth, I'm mortal now."

At this, Icheb turned all the way around and even Seven looked up from her console.

"That's right." Q spread his arms. "You're looking at my permanent form from now on! The Continuum decided I hadn't done enough to warrant the reinstatement of my powers. And you'll be glad to know I won't be spending the rest of my remaining years on Voyager. I'll ask the Captain to drop me at the nearest habitable planet. That way you won't have to deal with me and my colossal screwups anymore. Well, see ya." He made to leave.

"Don't go."

"What?" Q turned, sure he'd misheard Icheb. Damn mortal ears.

"Don't leave Voyager," Icheb said. He looked at Seven, then back at Q. "Your knowledge of spacial anomalies, and of the various species in this quadrant, is extensive. Your travels as a Q have also made you quite proficient at engineering. You could become a valuable member of this crew, as Seven of Nine and I have."

"I doubt that would make anybody on this ship happy," Q said grouchily. "And your memory processors must be malfunctioning. Have you forgotten I almost got you killed a few hours ago?"

"You would have to earn the trust of the crew and the officers, of course," Seven put in. "Not an easy thing to accomplish from your current position, but I speak from experience when I say it is worth the effort. Icheb is correct. You have the potential to be a valuable member of this collective."

"Thanks. I'll think about it. Glad to see you're OK, Ichy." He turned and left, catching the amused look Seven sent Icheb out of the corner of his eye. Or whatever facial twitch passed for amusement among former Borg drones.

Q wandered back to his quarters, lost in thought. Should he stay on Voyager? Seven and Icheb were right about one thing; his knowledge of the Delta quadrant might prove valuable as they traveled across it. Certainly life on Voyager wasn't boring, as bipedal life went. A lot of the routine was tedious, but the crew were explorers and inclined to investigate new things rather than stay safely in their ship. And they did encounter things they needed to make explode all the time. He liked explosions.

There remained the question of if he'd be allowed to stay. Aunt Kathy had said she'd ask the Continuum to let him remain, but that had been before his most recent 'mishap' with stealing the Delta Flyer and almost getting Icheb killed. He'd given her enough food for second, and third thoughts, about allowing him to stay on her ship.

Still thinking, he got up and made his way to Janeway's Ready Room. She'd probably be there if she wasn't on the bridge. He stood in the spot and pressed the signal to let her know she had a visitor.

"Come in!" her voice called.

Now that he'd arrived, Q found himself uncharacteristically nervous. Aunt Kathy had never intimidated him before, but that was back when he'd considered himself her superior. He briefly envisioned himself as she must see him: fresh-faced, brash, and incredibly young despite his former omnipotence. "Do you have a moment?"

She nodded, and he approached the desk where she'd been reading.

"A few days ago, you offered to let me remain on Voyager," he began. "I know I've made a few mistakes since then, and you probably don't want me around…but if it's all right with you, I'd like to continue my training."

Janeway's expression was hard to read. He thought he detected surprise. "But you have nothing left to prove to the Continuum," she pointed out.

He nodded. "There's a lot I still need to prove to you."

She acknowledged this, then asked, "What about your father?"

Q allowed himself a small, sad smile. "You don't honestly believe we'll see him again, do you? He obviously doesn't want me around. Why else would he have left me here? Twice?"

"The question you should be asking is why I keep coming back," said a voice from the other side of the room. Q and Janeway turned to find the older Q perched on Aunt Kathy's sofa as if he'd been there all along. He probably had, Q thought wryly.

His father stood. "Now, I'm sorry I left so abruptly, but the Continuum's verdict demanded an immediate appeal. But no matter how I argued, they still maintained that you had a lesson to learn about consequences. It's not a no!" he exclaimed at the look on his son's face. "But it's not a yes, either." He grinned. "It's a better outcome than I expected, though."

"Just to be clear," Janeway interrupted with an upraised hand. "Your son is still human?"

"For the moment, yes," Q admitted. "He still hasn't demonstrated that exemplary Q-ness I was talking about earlier. That's the only way he'll get his powers back."

"Still no hints about what that is?" Janeway coaxed. "So I can help him get to the point where he can demonstrate it?"

"Still too complex for a mere primate, Kathy," Q said condescendingly. His son sent him a disgusted look. Had he really talked to people like that? No wonder nobody wanted to be around him. From the look Aunt Kathy was giving Q, she didn't appreciate being talked down to, either.

"So, I'll be going for now," Q said. "But I'll keep an eye on things as they proceed." He patted his son's shoulder. "The moment you've passed, you'll get your powers back. I got the Continuum to promise that much."

He turned back to Janeway. "In thanks for your help in keeping the boy on, I did a little homework for you." He handed her a data Padd.

Janeway studied it. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but this will only take a few years off our journey." A sly look crossed her face. "Why not send us all the way?"

"Now what kind of example would I be setting for my son if I did all the work for you?" Q asked sweetly. Before either his son or Janeway could respond, he vanished.

"For what it's worth, Captain, I wish I had my powers, if only to send you back to the Alpha quadrant," Q said after a moment.

"I know." Janeway had slumped a little in her chair. "You probably miss your home as much as we miss ours." She looked at him. "Any idea what Q-ness is?"

"No," he said dejectedly. "If I didn't really get it when I was a Q, how can I when I'm stuck as a human?"

"Well, I had to ask." Janeway shrugged. "Welcome to Voyager, Q."

* * *

_Author's Note: This is a story I've been kicking around for a long, long time. It's entirely complete and will be uploaded fully in a matter of hours. A full backstory into the writing of it will be offered at the end of the final chapter. I grew up watching Voyager and have a deep love for the characters._

_Any errors in what things are officially called/spelled in the Star Trek universe are entirely my mistake. This is not my usual fandom, nor do I consider myself a Trekker/Trekkie/whatever the least offensive term is at the moment. I dabble for pure enjoyment._

_SamoaPhoenix9_


	2. Naomi

The next few weeks were as grueling and demeaning as the first week as a human had been. Instead of individual lessons with the officers, however, Q found himself with assignments to complete that contributed to the overall running of the ship. He was often assigned to work with Icheb, under the supervision of other crew members. Icheb was not very talkative, and made no gestures of friendship as he had on Q's first week, but their supervisors commented on how well they worked together.

Q's favorite assignments, to his own surprise, were with Seven of Nine and B'Elanna Torres. Seven accepted him without comment and treated him just as she did Icheb when they worked in the Astrometrics Lab. Q learned to appreciate her silence. Silence meant he was doing things right. Seven was quick to criticize when something went wrong and she rarely offered praise. She was also incredibly demanding but Q found he enjoyed pushing himself to meet her expectations. It was nice when someone laid out exactly what was expected rather than leaving him to guess the way his father and the Continuum had.

Different again was B'Elanna during his shifts in Engineering. B'Elanna treated him coldly not out of habit, as Seven did, but deliberately. Q guessed she still held a grudge against him for messing with the warp core while he was still able to control matter. B'Elanna told him exactly what he needed to know and no more. With her, silence was hostile, and she was quick to chew him out if he made a mistake—normally an experience Q would hate passionately. What Q liked about working with her was using what she'd told him and finding clever solutions to problems on his own. He never told her how he completed his assignments and she never asked. He knew she checked his work after he was done, however, because as the weeks went on his assignments got more difficult.

Q wasn't always assigned with Icheb. The former drone was often off studying and completing classwork for his Starfleet Academy training. Why Icheb wanted to join Starfleet, Q couldn't fathom. Too many rules for his liking. He refused to think what he would do with the rest of his human life if Voyager ever made it back to the Alpha quadrant.

When Icheb was busy, Q had his own set of training. His diplomacy lessons with Commander Chakotay continued, as did his physical training with Commander Tuvok. These, he hated. He'd never needed either of these skills as a Q. However, he kept his head down and didn't complain. For the time being. Maybe there was a lesson here that would help him exhibit "Q-ness" down the line.

-0-0-0-

Q first encountered Naomi Wildman two weeks into his permanent assignment to Voyager. He'd known there was a young child on board but had forgotten her until he went to find Icheb in the cargo bay before they reported to Seven of Nine. He found Icheb on the ground helping the little girl complete a puzzle. It was odd to see the usually stiff former drone doing something so…childlike.

Both looked up at his entrance. "We're supposed to report to Astrometrics in five minutes," Q reminded.

"Yes," Icheb agreed. He reached down and placed the final piece of the puzzle.

"Icheb…" the little girl said with a glance at Q.

"Oh. Naomi Wildman, this is…Q. Q, Naomi Wildman."

"Q?" Naomi stood up and came to study him. "That's a funny name. Isn't there more?"

"More?" Q repeated.

"More to your name? You know, does Q stand for something?"

"Oh. No. I'm just Q. I used to _be_ a Q, but…never mind." Why was he telling this little snip of a biped anything? She wouldn't understand, even less than the adults of her species understood what it meant to be a Q.

"I know." Naomi smiled and nodded. "Icheb said he had a friend who used to be omnipotent but isn't anymore. He didn't tell me your name was just one letter."

Q stared. "You know what _omnipotent _means?"

"Of course." The girl looked offended. "Doesn't everybody?"

"What does it mean then?"

"It means you can go anywhere and do anything you want. And you know everything there is to know," Naomi said proudly. "But you don't anymore. That's what Icheb said. You're like us now. You can't just snap your fingers and make things happen. Do you want to play caldes-cot with me later? I want to see if I can beat someone who used to know everything."

Q just stared, mouth open. He'd never encountered a being like this before in all his travels. She swung from incredibly mature to sweet and childish without warning. Granted, he'd never paid close attention to the members of any race, let alone their young, so he had little to compare this child to.

Icheb nudged him. The girl had asked Q a question and was still waiting for an answer. "Umm…I guess so. I get off at…seventeen hundred hours."

She grinned with delight. "We can play in the Mess Hall!"

"Can we play someplace else?' Q asked with a wince. The Talaxian cook was still having a little too much fun rubbing in the fact that Q no longer had the power to shut him up when he chose.

"Oh. I guess." Naomi thought. "What about your quarters?"

"There's nothing in them…"

"You can play in here, Naomi," Icheb said, taking pity on Q's stammers. "There's plenty of room. I can study with Ensign Kim in the Mess Hall."

"Thanks, Icheb! See you later, Q!" With a giggle, Naomi skipped off down the corridor.

"Come on," Icheb said, stiff again. "We're going to be late for duty."

They paced off, Q calling himself all kinds of idiot. Why had he agreed to play a silly, pointless game with a little girl? He didn't know anything about children and he didn't want to learn. It wasn't as if he planned to mate with any females of this pathetic species and produce offspring. He had just settled on contacting the girl and canceling their game when he and Icheb arrived at the Astrometrics Lab. Seven of Nine put them right to work scanning a new nebula long-range sensors had encountered. It took all of Q's concentration just to keep up with the readings as they came in and he had no time to worry about anything else. He had just enough energy to curse the limited capacity of the human mind every so often.

Once Seven had dismissed them, Q followed Icheb to the Mess Hall. "Weren't you going to the Cargo Bay?" Icheb asked, not unkindly.

"Oh! Right," Q said. Inwardly, he groaned. "Why does she want to do anything with _me_?" he complained.

"She may be lonely," Icheb said. "Since the other former Borg children left Voyager several months ago, she has had no one her own age to interact with."

"I'm not her age!" Q protested.

"In terms of existence, you are," Icheb pointed out. There was almost a smirk on his face.

"She doesn't know that," fumed Q. "To her, I look like every other adolescent human male. And it's only on your temporal plane I'm a few years old. In Q terms, I'm—"

"You're going to be late," interrupted Icheb calmly. "And Ensign Kim is expecting me." He went into the Mess Hall.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" muttered Q. "As much as you ever enjoy anything, drone-boy." He rolled his eyes, and, for lack of anything better to do, stalked down to the Cargo Bay.

Naomi was waiting for him, setting up the board. "You're late," she remarked.

Q bit back a nasty retort. Why, he wasn't sure. Normally he wouldn't balk at venting at someone who frustrated him. Something about Naomi made him reluctant to hurt her feelings. Her stupid _cuteness_ was getting to him. Was it a human thing to be so disgustingly sentimental about the young?

"What?" She'd asked him a question.

"Red or green?" she repeated with a sigh.

"Red," he selected at random. Of course he knew how to play this pointless game—that knowledge he'd gleaned while still a Q. And she was just a child. She'd be no match for him.

-0-0-0-

She beat him. It wasn't by much, but she still squeezed past him at the last minute.

"But…but…but…" Q stammered, his mind unable to encompass her last move. "That can't be in the rule book!"

"I didn't cheat!" Naomi protested. "Check it in the computer if you don't believe me."

"Computer," Q ordered. "Double-check Naomi Wildman's last move in caldes-cot."

The Voyager computer beeped, then stated, "Naomi Wildman executed a legal move."

"See?" Naomi stuck her tongue out at him. Q glared back, completely nonplussed, but Naomi had already moved on. She didn't even seem upset that he'd accused her of cheating. "Want to play again?"

Q needed no prompting. He even helped her get the boards set up. This time he won, but again it was by a narrow margin. He didn't even feel the urge to gloat.

This was so strange. The game was still pointless; neither of them got anything out of it other than some mental exercise as they tried to outthink the other. As a Q, he would already have known what she was going to do before she did it, so it was odd trying to anticipate her. She was smart, for her age and species. It made him wonder about his own intelligence quotient. Yet they still kept playing. Was this what humans called "fun?"

Neelix, the Talaxian cook, found them almost two hours later.

"There you are, Naomi!" he exclaimed. "Your mother and I have been looking for you. It's time for dinner."

Q's own stomach rumbled. This 'hunger' thing still startled him sometimes. "Can I…join you?" he asked hesitantly.

Neelix's bushy eyebrows rose. He looked at Q. Then he looked at Naomi.

"It's all right," Naomi said. "I like him."

"Really?" Neelix sounded shocked enough to annoy Q. Was he really _that_ terrible to be around? But Neelix only chuckled and led the way out of the Cargo Bay. "So you finally found somebody to give you a run for your money at caldes-cot," he remarked to the girl.

"Yep. He's pretty good," Naomi said solemnly. "For somebody that used to know everything."

Neelix winked conspiratorially at Q. "She beats almost everyone these days. Even Seven of Nine has to work to beat her sometimes."

"That's impressive," Q said to Naomi. For some reason he was in a generous mood and felt compelled to compliment the little biped. "It can't be easy for someone your age to beat Seven of Nine at anything."

"I've never actually _won_ against Seven," Naomi admitted, as if saying this pained her. "I've gotten close a few times."

"Ah."

"It's good you've found a new partner, Naomi," Neelix remarked. "He'll keep you on your toes."

Naomi giggled. "You should get Tuvok to teach him Kal-Toh. _That_ would be fun to watch. He gives lessons to Icheb and Ensign Kim."

"Oh, no," Q protested. "I'm not playing some pick-up-sticks patience game with the Vulcan." He still had his pride. After having lost at caldes-cot to Naomi, he could actually imagine the possibility of losing to a mortal. That, and patience was not his strong suit.

"Maybe someday," Neelix remarked breezily. They had arrived at the Mess Hall by this point. Naomi's mother Ensign Wildman was there waiting.

"Thank you very much for watching her," she said to Q with a smile. "She's been so lonely since the other children left. Icheb tries to make time, but he's so busy with his Starfleet training and his duty shifts these days. I really appreciate you taking the time."

Q shrugged. "She forced me into it."

"That's my Naomi," smiled Ensign Wildman. She took her daughter's hand and led her to the counter where they got their food. Q trailed along behind. For once, he didn't resent the necessity to eat. The prospect was more pleasant when consuming food could be done while still interacting with people.


	3. Prank

This wasn't the last time Q and Naomi spent time together. Neelix, Icheb and Ensign Wildman occasionally joined them when they could find time between duty shifts. They didn't always play caldes-cot; sometimes they played other games using the Holodeck, or tried to work through an episode of Lieutenant Paris' Holoprogram _Captain Proton_. All silly, pointless things, but Q found himself bizarrely looking forward to them nonetheless. The prospect of recreational time made the monotony of duty shifts and lessons more bearable.

Still, Q longed for more excitement. These bipeds were all right in their way, but their lives lacked…zip. Spontaneity.

The itch to spice things up got worse when he learned that Lieutenant Tom Paris, the chief pilot, was notorious as Voyager's perennial prankster. Q happened to be filling a duty shift in the Mess Hall when Tom and his best friend Ensign Kim began reminiscing. Very loudly.

"Oh, and don't forget the time I almost got you to kiss a cow on the Holodeck," Tom said.

"That almost got us killed by the holograms, remember?" Harry said grouchily. Q made a mental note to look that incident up in the ship's logs. It sounded like an amusing read.

Paris and Kim continued to talk, but Q's mind was elsewhere. To pull a prank on Tom Paris would be the ultimate achievement on Voyager. It would have to be something simple, since Q no longer had the power to pull off all of his favorite pranks. Those tended to be on entire civilizations, anyway. It would also have to be relatively harmless. He'd already gotten in enough trouble for inadvertently hurting people and it would probably set him back even further with the Continuum if anyone was harmed. But he was suddenly sure he couldn't sit on this antiquated flying machine another minute if he didn't make things more interesting.

Q spent the next few days using his spare brain cells to come up with and then discard ideas. This was one of the myriad things that made not being omnipotent frustrating, he decided. He couldn't give full attention to multiple projects at once.

He was still turning over ideas in his mind as he used a datapad to read up on some of Paris' pranks that had made enough splash to be recorded. As he had suspected, the incident with the Holodeck nearly killing Paris, Kim, Aunt Kathy and the Doctor was an entertaining read. The idea of holograms gaining enough personality to wonder about their existence wasn't as far-fetched as the crew of Voyager seemed to have thought at the time. Look at their Doctor. Q had also seen his share of beings that by all logic should not be sentient and for some reason were in his travels around the universe. Heck, there were systems that had sentient _rocks_—silicone-based lifeforms that never moved but had their own culture and ways of communicating. Humans and their limited minds were only just being able to grasp at the possibilities.

Several pranks described involved the Holodeck. Q called up some of the specs on Paris' Holodeck programs, easily bypassing the personalized security. He read through the coding and had to admit he was impressed in spite of himself. For a human, working with the limited tools he had, Paris was a talented designer. Q wasn't sure he himself could match this ability to build from scratch, even if he had the universe as his canvas again. He was better suited for destroying, he thought in a moment of bitterness. Or…playing games with what was already there.

A tiny seed of an idea began to form.

His door buzzed, and Q jumped a mile. The Padd clattered to the floor. Q cursed his lack of omniscience for the umpteenth time. It shouldn't be this easy to sneak up on him.

Naomi came bouncing in. "Hey, Q. Want to go play hoverball in the Holodeck? Icheb and Ensign Kim agreed and we need one more."

"You couldn't have commed me?" Q snapped, still annoyed at being surprised.

Naomi looked hurt. "Mom says it's more polite to give invitations in person if possible."

"Oh." Now he was feeling that new emotion again—remorse. He hated it. But he was also coming to dislike hurting Naomi's feelings, even if he hadn't intended it. "I'm…look, Naomi, I'm sorry. I was thinking about something else. You surprised me."

"It's OK." Naomi smiled her sweet smile at him. "What were you thinking about?"

Q considered. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course!"

"I want to play a prank on Lieutenant Paris."

"A prank? Like a joke?" she asked.

"Yes, like a joke."

To Q's relief, Naomi giggled. "That's funny! He's played jokes on other people before. Mom says he gets away with it 'cause he's handsome and he's one of the senior officers."

"Do you think anybody would mind if I played one on him even though I'm not a senior officer?"

Naomi considered carefully. At last, she said, "No, I don't think so. I think they'd think it was funny if he was gotten back for all the stuff he's done to other people. And if you were careful and nobody got hurt. Lieutenant Torres might get mad, though. She's his wife and they're going to have a baby soon. Mom says that makes anybody cranky, but especially Lieutenant Torres."

"That's what I thought," said Q. "I'll have to avoid her even more than I already do. Now remember, it's a secret. You can't tell anyone."

"Not even Mom or Neelix?"

"No. It has to be a secret or it won't work."

"You don't want people to know it was you? I would," Naomi said.

Q grinned. "After it's over."

"OK." That seemed to be enough for Naomi. "Can I help?"

"If you can cover for me next time we're in the Holodeck by ourselves so I can look at some things in there."

"Sure, I think so. But why the Holodeck?"

"Secret," Q said in a quiet voice.

"Ohhh." Naomi nodded conspiratorially. "Then we'd better go there now and find Icheb and Ensign Kim or they'll wonder what we're doing."

"Wait a minute, I didn't agree to play hoverball. Maybe I have a duty shift."

"But—"

"Just kidding. I'm off for the day. We can go now," grinned Q. He hopped off his bed and started out the door. "Well, come on," he said when the little girl stayed in the middle of his floor.

Naomi shook her head at him and they left.

-0-0-0-

Q continued to mull over his idea in his spare moments, refining it each time. After the incident that had nearly killed Icheb and cost him his status as a Q, he wanted to make absolutely certain no one could get hurt. Therefore as small as this prank was there were many angles that needed to be considered. This wasn't his usual punch-a-hole-in-spacetime-and-run-behind-the-neare st-nebula-and-laugh kind of fun. Still, he never considered not doing it. If the past few weeks had taught him anything, it was that putting work and thought into something made the accomplishment sweeter.

Naomi seemed to be enjoying being his lookout while he investigated and made subtle changes to the Holodeck. Without omniscience and no ability to snap his fingers and create things, her presence was invaluable. Building his plan and making sure he hadn't missed any details took time. Time that might have made someone suspicious if Naomi hadn't been there with him. She also warned him so that anyone wanting to use the Holodeck did not walk in on him altering it. He worried that she would get tired of helping him, but she never did. She found the whole concept of a secret they were keeping from the entire ship very exciting.

Q was fairly certain Ensign Wildman and Neelix suspected he and Naomi were up to something. However, they never forbade the little girl from spending time with her new friend. It was hard to tell if Icheb suspected. The former drone kept his thoughts to himself, as always. Q elected not to tell him anything. Icheb, being the rule-follower he was, would try to talk him out of his plan. Or worse, he'd tell Aunt Kathy or Lieutenant Paris.

-0-0-0-

Due to the specifications he'd put into the Holodeck, it was impossible for Q to do a test run of the plan. So when he was fairly certain all was ready, he put Naomi on standby and carefully rigged a program into the ship's computer whose sole function was to warn him if Lieutenant Paris entered the Holodeck alone. To anyone else, it would look like a harmless computer glitch that would vanish from the system once it had completed its task. It was a trick Q had learned from watching several species who were much more technologically advanced than humans.

He spent over a week on pins and needles, waiting for the moment. On the second day, Seven of Nine rebuked him for inattentiveness while he served duty in Astrometrics and asked him straight out if he needed to visit Sickbay. Naturally, he declined. After that, he tried to put the whole thing from his mind and act normally. He went to his duty shifts. He ate his meals. He played games with Naomi. In a moment of insanity, he even sat in on one of Icheb's Kal-Toh lessons with Commander Tuvok but quickly left in disgust at how much patience it took to make even one move.

He was lucky. Though he was on duty when the alert came, it was at the very end of a shift in Engineering.

"Lieutenant Paris is in the Holodeck," the computer announced to the room, seemingly out of the blue.

Everyone's heads snapped around. "What the—" Lieutenant Torres murmured. Q suppressed a smug smile. At last his plan was in motion!

Torres pressed her comm. button. "Torres to Bridge."

"Go ahead, B'Elanna." That was Commander Chakotay. Captain Janeway must be elsewhere, Q decided.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Chakotay sounded puzzled.

"The computer just informed us in Engineering where my husband is spending his off-duty time," B'Elanna said. "I was wondering if you got the same information."

"No," Chakotay sounded puzzled. "It may have been isolated to your area. Where did it say Tom is?"

"The Holodeck. Are you surprised?"

"Not really." There was a slight chuckle in the second-in-command's voice. "At any rate, it doesn't sound too unusual. Check it out and report back."

"Understood." B'Elanna's eyes roved until they found a victim. "Q!" she snapped.

"Yes?" he asked in his most innocent voice, though his human heart did a traitorous flip-flop.

"Find out what caused that and fix it," she ordered. "Then your shift is over."

"Yes, ma'am." Q easily hid a grin this time, though it was deliciously ironic that he'd been told to fix the glitch he'd deliberately created. He was more disappointed than pleased. He'd wanted to get off duty as soon as possible so he could comm. Naomi and they could observe the fun.

Q ran diagnostics on all the parts of the computer that could have caused the "glitch," making certain he was especially thorough. He gave himself a mental pat on the back when he found no trace of the coding he'd placed in the system. There was indeed satisfaction in getting something out of hard work. He maintained his straight face all the way through presenting his findings to B'Elanna, her glancing at them, and telling him he could go.

Out in the hall he leaned against the wall for a moment with his hands clasped over his mouth to hold in the chuckles. But he was missing the show! He hurried to his quarters, comming Naomi using their secret code previously worked out between them for this occasion.

Once at his quarters he called up a view of the Holodeck. Paris was still trying to shut the Holodeck down.

"You won't get out that easily," Q chuckled. "Let's see how long it takes for you to figure out you're going to have to play my little games to get out."

A buzz at the door pulled his attention away from the screen for a second. "Yes?" he said.

"It's me," Naomi's voice drifted through the door.

"Come in."

The door beeped again and admitted the little girl. "How's it going?" she wanted to know.

"He's doing what I thought he would—still trying all kinds of overrides on the program. He'll be calling for help anytime now."

Naomi looked concerned. "But won't the rest of the crew be able to help him then?"

"No," Q grinned. "At least, not if I've done things the way I planned. He'll be able to comm. anyone he wants, but nothing will override the Holodeck until he completes all the challenges I designed. I thought I explained this to you."

"You just said your program would block anybody fiddling with the Holodeck from inside or outside while your prank was going on."

"It's the same thing."

"No, it isn't," she insisted. "Why didn't you just disable the comm. system into the Holodeck, anyway?"

"Because if Lieutenant Paris had just disappeared into the Holodeck then Aunt Kathy might have done something drastic, like try to shut it down with him still in it. That could have some not-so-pleasant consequences. I don't want anybody hurt in this little game, I told you."

"I remember," she said, and settled down to watch the screen.

As Q had predicted, within five minutes of Naomi's arrival Paris called for help. "Paris to Engineering."

"Something wrong with your playtime in the Holodeck?" his wife snapped.

"I—how did you know I'm in the Holodeck?" Tom asked.

"The computer gave us an update in Engineering when you went in," she explained. "I had Q check it out but he couldn't find what caused it."

"You just took his word for it?"

A few weeks ago, Q would have been pleased by this remark. No sentient mortal species _should_ trust a Q. Now, however, his stomach dropped. They had every right not to trust him personally, but after he'd been performing his duties to the best of his abilities, you think they'd know by now that he didn't shirk anymore.

"I checked his work myself, the way I always do," B'Elanna informed Tom. Her next remark surprised Q. "Though at this point I don't know why I bother. He's an exceptional engineer, borderline genius. If he weren't a kid and a former Q, I'd rely on him more than I do. Anyway, he did everything I would have in half the time and he didn't find any problem. I take it there is one?"

"Not with the comm. system."

"Thanks, flyboy, I figured that out."

Both Q and Paris winced. B'Elanna was obviously not in the best of moods.

There was a pause. Then Tom said, very delicately, "I seem to be stuck in the Holodeck."

"Oh, Tom, not again…"

"It's not Fair Haven! It's not even a program of _mine_," Tom protested. "I just walked into the Holodeck to do some tinkering on the next episode of Captain Proton and…_this_ popped up."

"What is 'this,' exactly?"

"Well, it looks like a scene from Captain Proton." Tom looked around him curiously. "It's in black-and-white, anyway. But there are no characters. It's just an empty mountain landscape. And I can't get out. None of my override codes are working."

"Let me see." There was a brief pause. "I've called it up on a workstation. I'll see if I can shut the program down from here" A longer pause, during which Q shook with chuckles. This was as close to being a real Q as he'd felt for weeks.

"Tom?" B'Elanna said. "I can't seem to get the Holodeck to respond to any of my remote commands. My override codes aren't working either, not even the failsafes we developed after all the problems with had with Fair Haven. It looks like…somebody's modified the Holodeck from within. Parts of the commands are in a language I can't even read. Why the computer didn't detect this is beyond me."

"Alien attack?" asked Paris.

"I can't be sure. I'll notify the Bridge and get back to you."

"Now for even more fun," Q said to Naomi. He punched a few buttons on his datapad. Suddenly they could hear the conversation between Torres and the Bridge (still Chakotay) broadcast into Q's quarters.

"—can't get it to shut down," B'Elanna was saying. "I've tried everything I can think of."

"And it's just a black-and-white landscape? Nothing else?" Chakotay inquired.

"That's what he said."

"Have him check around, see if there's anything distinctive about it, something he might recognize. In the meantime, contact the Doctor. See if he has any ideas. I'll alert the Captain when she comes on duty in a few minutes. Keep me posted."

"Yes, sir."

Naomi and Q watched as B'Elanna relayed Chakotay's message to Tom. She left him exploring to contact the Doctor. Q already knew that was a dead end-he'd designed his prank to block the Doctor from downloading his program into the Holodeck. There would be no help for Lieutenant Paris that way.

Q watched Tom intently, having no interest in listening to Torres' conversation with the Doctor. Tom wandered around the flat plateau, shading his eyes as he peered at the distant mountains. He almost tripped over the device Q had programmed to appear on the ground when the Holoprogram uploaded: one of the bizarre-looking personal rocket packs Q had found in the Captain Proton program as a means of transportation.

"What the—" Paris muttered.

"C'mon…move it along, Paris," hissed Q under his breath. "You're quicker than this."

To his delight, Paris shrugged and pulled on the rocket pack. He launched off, and instantly Q's first test was triggered.

"Whoa!" Paris cried as the rocket pack shot off towards the distant mountains. It guided him to a series of canyons, where, as Q had programmed, control was given back to Paris. Q knew Tom would figure out what to do from there: navigate the maze of canyons.

This Tom proceeded to do. Q had to admit, the man was an exceptional pilot for a biped. He and Naomi watched, spellbound.

"This is way better than studying," Naomi remarked.

"There should _always_ be time for fun," Q agreed. "Especially fun you create yourself."

Once out of the maze, another plateau appeared for Paris to land on. This one was nearly identical to the first, down to the mountains in the distance.

Immediately, the figure Q had reprogrammed came gliding towards Paris.

"Doctor Chaotica," Paris snapped, slightly out of breath, "I'm not in the mood."

"That is simply too bad, Captain Proton, for I have a message for you," the villain hologram purred, lacing his fingers together in a sinister manner. "Or should I say, Lieutenant Tom Paris of the Starship Voyager?"

"Wh—how do you know that?" spluttered Paris.

"It matters not," the hologram said grandly. "I have only come bearing a message. It is one that I relish bringing, for you and I have been adversaries for many moons and it pleases me to find you in a situation you cannot…slither out of."

"I wondered why you were out of your lab," Tom muttered. "What's the message?" he asked in a louder voice.

Chaotica's dark eyes sparkled with malicious delight. "I have come to tell you that you shall never return to Voyager until you complete all the challenges that have been set before you. As you have already noticed, there will be no speaking a few paltry phrases and leaving my realm. And expect no help from the outside. They cannot reach you here." Sweeping his cloak around, he turned to go.

"Wait!" Tom shouted after him. "Who gave you this message? How do you know all these things?"

Chaotica waved a hand. His expression was smug. "As I said, it matters not. But I shall enjoy watching you suffer, 'Captain Proton.'" With a sinister chuckle, he turned again and vanished in a shower of holographic sparks.

Tom stared at that spot for a moment, then tapped his comm. badge. "Paris to Torres."

"Go ahead, Tom. Learn anything?"

"I had a visit from Doctor Chaotica."

"Who—oh, never mind. One of your Captain Proton characters." Q could almost hear B'Elanna's eye roll. "What did 'Doctor Chaotica' have to say?"

"He knew my name—not Captain Proton."

"So somebody fiddled with his program when they were changing the Holodeck," B'Elanna said.

"But _why_?" Tom asked. "It doesn't make sense. How could somebody have modified the Holodeck or changed my characters without us noticing?"

"I don't know, Tom. We'll figure it out. Did you learn anything else?"

"I had to go through this canyon maze on one of my rocket packs, and when it was done Chaotica appeared and told me I wouldn't get out until I completed some sort of challenge. And that I wouldn't get any help from Voyager."

"He's right." B'Elanna's voice was grim. "I've spoken with the Doctor. He can't transfer his program into your Holodeck. He's been blocked. He'll keep trying, but he's not optimistic. We also can't use the transporters to get in there. Whoever modified the Holodeck was very sophisticated and knows our emergency protocol well. You really are on your own."

"Mr. Paris, do you read?" another comm. signal interrupted—Captain Janeway.

"Yes, Captain."

"Mr. Chakotay has informed me of the situation. Are you all right?"

"Yes, ma'am. I was just explaining to B'Elanna that it looks like I have to complete some sort of series of challenges to get out of this."

There was a pause. "Any hints about who's behind this?"

"None, Captain. I'll keep looking."

"Let us worry about that, Lieutenant. You just concentrate on getting out. We'll monitor you from here and get answers to you as we can."

"Yes, Captain. Understood. Paris out."

Q listened to all of this with relish. He wasn't particularly interested in the rest of the crew's efforts to extract Paris. He had no plans to block them—he was fairly certain he'd planned for every contingency. However, if they did somehow manage to do it, he was surprised to find he wasn't bothered by the idea. For a group of lowly bipeds, these people were quite resourceful. He'd have to applaud them for their cleverness if they did find a loophole.

The rest of the challenges proceeded as planned. Q and Naomi watched, delighted, as Paris fought monsters, navigated rivers, and played Irish drinking games—all in scenarios Paris himself had designed and Q had appropriated.

The final challenge was back in the Captain Proton program. This 'challenge' was really just for show, and to let Paris know exactly who was behind everything. All he had to do was match wits with Doctor Chaotica. Q had already programmed the hologram to make a fatal 'slip' and reveal who he was taking orders from. However, just as Paris entered Chaotica's lab, the visual connection to his datapad went dead.

Q knew then his fatal error: Voyager must have tracked the signal that he was using to watch his handiwork. Rather than try to correct this, Q put the datapad aside.

"They've figured out it was me, Naomi. You should get out of here, now. Go find someplace else to play for awhile."

"But—"

"I said no one would get hurt, remember? That includes you."

Naomi opened her mouth to argue, then stopped at his expression. "Oh. You don't want me to get in trouble," she said as a confirmation.

"Right." It was mostly because explaining her presence would be difficult. It was easier to take all the blame himself.

Naomi scurried out and Q let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Within a minute of the little girl's departure, his door swished open again. Commander Tuvok and two other security team members charged in with phasers at the ready. They seemed surprised to find him alone.

"Hello, boys." Q offered a cheeky grin.

It took Tuvok less than a second to process everything. Q had to hand it to the Vulcan, he was quick when it mattered. For a humanoid.

"You will come with us to see the Captain at once," he ordered coldly.

"Sure." Q didn't bother to pretend innocence. He was caught and they all knew it.

He was quick-marched to Aunt Kathy's Ready Room, where they were admitted without preamble. The Captain was sitting behind her desk. Like her security team, she seemed surprised when they entered with only Q. Then her eyes narrowed.

"Thank you, Mr. Tuvok."

"With all due respect, Captain—" Tuvok began.

She stopped him with a hand. "Let me handle this, Commander."

If Q had to guess, and he wasn't good at reading Vulcan lack-of-expression-speaking-volumes, he thought Tuvok wanted to stay. However, the Security Chief didn't argue with his Captain. He and his team left the room without a word.

Aunt Kathy stared at Q for so long Q felt himself start to squirm despite everything. At last, she spoke. "Why, Q?"

"I was bored," he said frankly.

Her eyes went steely cold. "If that was all, then you could have asked for more duty shifts. Made yourself useful."

"But _that's_ the boring part," he protested. "There's been nothing exciting since I joined this ship. I decided to make my own."

"But modifying the Holodeck? Trapping Mr. Paris in it? Explain it to me, Q. And it better be good. I'm losing patience with these games."

"It was a joke, all right? Completely harmless." He straightened his shoulders. "I made sure of it."

Her eyebrows went up ever so slightly, then back down. "Oh? Just how long did it take you to put all this together?"

"Several weeks. I wanted to be sure I'd thought of everything."

"And what if we'd run into trouble while our best pilot was trapped in some game of yours? Did you think of that?" Janeway demanded.

"Of course," Q replied. "I had a failsafe I could trigger that would have shut down the whole thing. I—"

He was interrupted by the abrupt entrance of Paris himself, slightly the worse for wear, followed by B'Elanna.

"Captain, Q is… Oh." B'Elanna came up short as she took in the scene in the Ready Room. She folded her arms. "You already got him."

"Yes," Janeway replied, not taking her eyes off Q. "I was just trying to clear some things up about Tom's little experience."

B'Elanna stalked up to Q. "What the hell were you trying to pull?" she demanded. "Tom could have been hurt, or killed, or—"

"B'Elanna," Janeway said. It wasn't loud, but it was firm. To Q's surprise, the Chief Engineer immediately subsided, though she still glared daggers at him.

"Q," the Captain said, still in that firm voice that would take no argument. "Start talking. Now. I want to hear everything from the beginning."

So Q told them. He explained why he'd wanted to pull a prank, why he'd chosen Tom, and the process of creating the holoprogram. He went over every safety feature and failsafe he'd created, trying to make them understand that he'd orchestrated everything to do no harm. The only thing he left out was Naomi Wildman's involvement.

They heard him out in silence. Janeway and Torres held themselves like icy statues. Paris was more relaxed, but there was no reading emotion on his face other than possibly thoughtful.

The silence continued after he finished. At last, Janeway flicked her eyes at her two officers. They all seemed to come to some unspoken agreement, because Janeway said, "Q, would you excuse us for a moment?"

Q nodded and left the Ready Room. He longed to know what they were saying, but didn't quite dare to fetch a datapad to tap into Voyager's computer again.

Whatever was discussed didn't take very long. The door opened and Paris and Torres filed out. B'Elanna walked right by without acknowledging him. Tom, to Q's shock, actually gave him a quick clap on the shoulder. Q had no idea what to make of that.

"Q," Aunt Kathy called.

Obediently, Q re-entered her Ready Room. Janeway still sat behind her desk. Her hands were folded neatly on it. She studied him with a raised eyebrow for a moment before she spoke. "I think we owe you an apology."

Whatever Q had expected, it was not that. "For what?"

"For not keeping someone with your potential occupied with things that actually capture your interest," Janeway said calmly. "We were all young ourselves once, as Tom just reminded me. Some of us were lucky and had people in our lives to give us a push in the right direction when we needed it. Others, like Tom and B'Elanna, found…alternative ways to use their gifts that occasionally—if not frequently—got them into trouble. Q…" she trailed off. "I don't know if you even realize how extraordinary you are."

"You mean for a human," Q said bitterly.

"In a way," the Captain admitted. "Some of the feats you can do are because of your background as a Q. You've simply seen more of the universe than we have. But it's more than that. You're a gifted problem-solver, no matter what form you wear. You take what you know and apply it in remarkable ways. All the officers have seen it, and this latest stunt of yours just goes to show what you can do if you put your mind to something.

"That being said," she went on, her voice growing even more serious, "this will not continue. I can't be worrying about you playing pranks on my crew every few weeks, no matter your intentions. We need to find a more…constructive outlet. There is also the matter of discipline being kept aboard this ship."

"I assume the Vulcan is all for throwing me in the Brig for a week or two," Q said flippantly. "Go ahead. It's what I expected."

"If I thought that would teach you anything, I would," Janeway replied with a slight smirk. "Something a little more creative is called for in this case." She stood and took on an even more formal posture than usual. "You will show Lieutenants Paris and Torres exactly what you did to the Holodeck and Mr. Paris' holoprograms. You will then put everything back exactly as it was before you made your modifications, unless Lieutenant Torres orders otherwise. As of now, your Holodeck privileges are revoked until further notice."

"But—"

She held up a hand. "If you don't argue and don't try to get around my injunction in any way, then I can promise it won't be for very long. You can use the spare time to think about something else."

"Like what?" Q demanded.

"I'd like you to choose a problem that involves the running of this ship in some way, and figure out how to solve it on your own. When you have a proposal, I'll call a meeting so you can pitch it to the senior officers. If they approve, then the project is yours."

"Anything?" inquired Q.

"Within our technological capabilities, of course. Don't design a weapon we can't possibly fire with our power output, for example. You know this ship well enough by now—figure it out."

Q knew that he should feel belittled—Aunt Kathy was just giving him a pet project to keep him busy. But instead, he found his mind turning over possibilities, much as it had when he was first contemplating his prank. Still thinking, he turned to go.

"Q?" Janeway's voice broke through the fog. Q focused on her to find she was smiling in a way that probably meant she had a good idea what was going on in his head.

"Hum?"

"I haven't dismissed you yet."

"Oh. Sorry, Captain." He turned to face her again.

She came forward a few paces, studying him. Her posture had softened. "Q, did you know when we first traced the signal you were using to watch Mr. Paris, we thought something had happened to you?"

"I—no." This idea took him aback, but recalling the reactions of the security team as well as Janeway herself, he should have seen it.

"I didn't think so." She looked almost sad. "You were so careful to keep other people from getting hurt in this grand plan of yours, yet you didn't think someone would care enough to worry when we traced a signal we didn't recognize to your quarters."

"I didn't mean…"

"It's all right, Q. I just wish…" the Captain trailed off. "Never mind. You're dismissed."

-0-0-0-

"Well, it wasn't a Phalagian Singing Joke, but it was worth a few chuckles."

"Hello, Q." Q wasn't surprised to find his father walking beside him. "Did pulling a prank get me my powers back?"

"No, but it's a start," the older Q chuckled. "You did think that you felt more like a Q when you were watching the results of your little project than you had since you lost your powers."

"That's really annoying. Stay out of my head."

"Ah, but how else would I monitor your progress?" grinned his father. "I'm not as uninvolved in your life as you thought. You've been wondering where I've been these past few weeks."

Q let this slide, though of course he had been wondering. "Well at least now I've learned pranks are so much better if you plan them."

"No more blowing up star systems for a laugh? Or only if you plan it so nobody gets hurt?"

"You know the answer to that. If you hadn't come behind me and fixed all the harm I did when I was a Q, I'd do it myself now if I had my powers. Why are you really here?"

"Just checking in on you. What, I can't visit my only son?" Q looked hurt, but his son thought he sounded pleased about something.

"Not when you're his father and he's mortal," he replied grouchily. "In case you'd forgotten. I'm not in the mood to be reminded."

"Well, if you're in one of those _mortal_ adolescent snits I've heard about, then I'll take myself off until you're in a better mood," his father answered in a lofty tone. "I have to say, I'm glad _I_ was never a teenager. It sounds terribly…uncomfortable." He clicked his fingers and vanished in a flash.

"'Uncomfortable'," Q growled under his breath. He didn't mind a reprimand from Aunt Kathy anymore. She was his superior now and he'd come to tolerate that fact. Besides, in this case he'd been expecting worse. She'd made giving him more work sound like a privilege, something to look forward to that would challenge him. Seeing his father again only taunted him with what he couldn't have.

The good he couldn't do.

The thought surprised him. He had sincerely told the Captain when he joined the ship he wished he had his powers so that he could send Voyager home. But Aunt Kathy's words today had started a tickle in the back of his mind—what _could_ he do if he wasn't limited to what his human mind and hands could accomplish?

He viciously shoved the thought away. He was human; there was no changing that. Wishing for what couldn't be would get him nowhere. Being human tended to force you to be realistic about certain things: you couldn't just snap your fingers and think something into being. If you wanted it done, you had to do it with your own tiny brain and limited simian hands with those stupid opposable thumbs humans were so proud of.

He went back to his quarters to curse his father some more. And get started brainstorming what project he'd like to take on.


	4. First Contact Day

It took Q about a day to realize that without something to inspire him, he really wasn't that creative. Ideas just didn't float into his brain on their own. No project came to mind that would both help Voyager and be feasible with its technology.

After a few days, he reluctantly took his dilemma to Icheb.

"I know the last time I asked you for help on an assignment I took advantage of it," he admitted. "But I promise you won't have to do any work. I only need ideas. The rest I can handle myself."

"After the incident with Lieutenant Paris, I have full confidence in your ability to 'handle' the project Captian Janeway has assigned," Icheb said.

Q eyed him. To his limited ears, it sounded as though Icheb had injected a bit of humor into that last statement. "I'm glad somebody thought it was funny," he remarked.

Icheb ignored this. "Give me the parameters of the assignment."

"I have to choose a problem Voyager is experiencing and come up with a feasible solution. Then if the senior officers approve I'll get to put my solution in place."

"That's a broad assignment."

Q suppressed an eye roll. Leave it to drone-boy to state the obvious.

Icheb was silent for a few moments. Q amused himself with imagining he was watching the former Borg's hardware interact with the organic tissue of his brain while he processed the problem.

"I don't have an idea for a project," Icheb finally admitted. "But I have an idea of where you could start."

"Anything that might help."

"You could read through the history of the alterations Voyager has gone through since it arrived in the Delta quadrant and see what sets it apart from other Starfleet ships of its class. It might help you gain perspective on what the ship has needed to continue functioning in the past seven years. I did some research into this topic when I first came aboard Voyager, and the schematic archives are enlightening. Nearly every system has been altered, replaced or enhanced in some way. Voyager was even partially assimilated for a time, when Captain Janeway forged an alliance with the Borg to combat Species 8472. Most Borg technology was removed, but Cargo Bay Two remained permanently altered to accommodate Seven of Nine, and eventually myself and the other Borg children."

"I guess I could start there. It's as good a place as any." Q knew the gist of the ship's seven-year journey thanks to his previous omnipotence, but he hadn't cared very much so his knowledge of the details was sketchy. "Thanks, Ichy."

Icheb looked as though he didn't know whether to be pleased or nonplussed. "I'm happy to help, Q-Ball."

Q just grinned.

-0-0-0-

Icheb had been right; the history of Voyager the starship was pretty interesting. All kinds of modifications had been added and discarded to the Intrepid-class ship over the years. Q buried himself in his research and duty shifts, since he had no Holodeck privileges.

He was vaguely aware of the crew's excitement about something. Q only realized what was going on when Naomi, incandescent with happiness, mentioned that she'd spoken to her father. He knew as well as anyone else that Naomi's father was back in the Alpha quadrant. The crew must have found a way to actually speak with their loved ones at home instead of just sending messages.

The breakthrough meant nothing to him. He could talk to his parents anytime he felt like it. Whether they would answer was another matter entirely.

Icheb also didn't share the general excitement; he'd chosen to leave his family on their home planet and stay on Voyager. All he would say on the subject was that they'd wanted to use him as a weapon against the Borg by getting him assimilated again. Captain Janeway and Seven of Nine had rescued him before he'd been recaptured. Q didn't pry beyond that. After having his own father dig around in his head, he'd gotten a taste of how it felt to have private thoughts seen by someone else. The pair of them spent more time together than usual while the rest of the crew chatted gaily about how great it was to finally see their loved ones after seven years.

Several days after the crew had begun talking to their families, Icheb and Q were silently eating dinner together when Lieutenant Paris unexpectedly appeared beside them carrying his own food.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Ummm…no," Q replied, gesturing to an empty seat at their table.

"So," Paris said as he dug into his dinner, "How is fixing the Holodeck going?"

"We're almost done. Another day or two at the most," Q answered. "Lieutenant Torres wants to replace some of the emitters, so we're running diagnostics to see which ones need to come out." Q was suspicious. Tom had to already know this information. His wife was in charge of the project, for Universe's sake.

"That's good." Paris paused, and lowered his voice. "Do you think you can show me how to access and modify Holoprograms created by someone else?"

"What for?" Q wanted to know, his suspicions deepening. "Just so you know, I haven't created any myself, if you were thinking about getting back at me for what I did to your programs."

"Hasn't even crossed my mind," Paris assured him. "Frankly, in hindsight, it was pretty clever, and I have to give a fellow prankster some respect. But someone else needs a bit of a lesson about creative license. Your modifications to my programs gave me a great idea on how to do it."

"Who?" asked Icheb, speaking for the first time during the conversation.

"The Doc," Tom admitted. "He wrote a Holonovel that…frankly, doesn't paint the crew of this ship in the best light. But he insists it's just fiction and wasn't intended to be hurtful. I want to put things in perspective for him."

Q grinned. "You came to the right place. Meet me in the Holodeck at twenty-one hundred hours, and I'll show you what you need to know."

"Great!" Paris said.

"There's one condition, though," Q added. "I still don't have Holodeck privileges. If you can get the Captain to reinstate them, then we have a deal."

"Shouldn't be a problem. I'll tell her I think you've learned your lesson."

"Oh, believe me, I have," Q smirked.

"How is your research proceeding, Q?" Icheb inquired, deftly changing the subject.

"Research?" Paris wanted to know. The rest of the meal was spent quietly as Q explained the project he'd been assigned by Captain Janeway, and Icheb's suggestion about looking into past modifications to Voyager. Paris wandered off once they'd all finished eating.

"Don't look at me like that," Q said to Icheb when they were alone. "I might not be omnipotent, but for a drone you're not very good at hiding your disapproval. You know I can't refuse a request from a senior officer."

Icheb had to concede this point, but he still didn't look pleased. "You shouldn't be helping anyone to play tricks on someone else."

"Didn't you hear Lieutenant Paris? It's for a good cause. The Doctor can always stand to be taken down a peg or two. Besides, the Captain wants me to channel my abilities into doing productive things. This is the perfect way to do it." Q lightly slapped his friend's shoulder. "C'mon, Ichy, it's not like you'll get in trouble if I step out of line again. Your impeccable reputation won't be tarnished by association with me. I promise."

Icheb did not look reassured.

-0-0-0-

Lieutenant Paris was as good as his word. He met Q in the Holodeck with the news that the Captain had indeed agreed to return his Holodeck time. Q, in turn, showed Paris his bypass secrets into the Doctor's Holonovel.

"Thanks, Q," Tom said, clapping Q on the shoulder. "This is perfect. The Doctor won't know what hit him."

Q left him tinkering. It was nice to be useful. And it seemed all was forgiven as far as his prank on Paris was concerned. Q felt that even though he'd disobeyed the rules, he'd somehow earned his stripes at the same time if people like Tom Paris were coming to him for help on projects. He'd proved he could be more than just a burden on Voyager's resources.

Things seemed to settle down in the next few days, at least for Q. Crew members still bustled about in a happy daze of being able to speak to their families. Q went back to playing games with Naomi, Icheb, and Neelix in his off-duty hours. He tried to ignore the nagging sense of unhappiness he felt every time he overheard someone talking about their families and friends back in the Alpha quadrant. He understood what it was like to miss your home and not know if you were ever going to get back to it. At least these bipeds had a shot at it, though they might be old when they reached Earth. Was it worth it if you accomplished your goal and were then too close to death to enjoy it? he wondered.

Q was heading to another of his diplomacy lessons with Commander Chakotay when he bumped into the Commander going in the opposite direction.

"Oh, Q," Chakotay said. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel our lesson today. Run the next simulation without me and if you have any questions, save them for our next session."

"What's going on?" Q wanted to know.

"I have to take the bridge. The Captain is in a hearing with the Doctor and Starfleet."

Q was immediately on alert. "Is this about his Holonovel?"

Voyager's second-in-command narrowed his eyes, but he didn't question Q about where he'd obtained this knowledge. "Yes. The publisher in the Alpha quadrant is claiming that the Doctor doesn't have creative rights to his work because he isn't legally human and therefore can't be an artist."

Q rolled his eyes. "You people and your legal rules. It's so ridiculous."

"How do you mean?" Chakotay asked with raised eyebrows. "This one is pretty cut-and-dry. You either are or you aren't human."

"You guys haven't seen enough of the universe," Q scoffed. "I assume by 'human' in this case you mean 'sentient and able to create something unique' as opposed to 'biped from planet Earth'. Sentient holograms are nothing compared to some of the other sentient life-forms out there. Some of them probably wouldn't consider organic life-forms capable of art by their definition, either. That's what makes being a Q so great. You can experience all of what the universe has to offer, not just what's limited by your physiology."

"An interesting perspective." Chakotay nodded. "You might want to share these insights with Commander Tuvok. He's in charge of the Doctor's legal defense." He patted Q's shoulder and strode off.

Q had no idea what made him obey Chakotay. He didn't like the Doctor, and he wasn't very fond of Commander Tuvok, either. But the next time he saw the Vulcan in the corridors, he stopped him and repeated what he'd told Chakotay, ending with "I thought it might help with the Doctor's defense."

"Your concern is appreciated," Tuvok said. Q refrained from saying he didn't much care one way or another. There was no point in arguing with a Vulcan. "However," Tuvok continued, "The Q perspective on what constitutes a sentient being may not present much relevance to legal proceedings on Earth."

Q shrugged. "It was Commander's Chakotay's idea to tell you, not mine. It just seems silly to me to argue over something like this. The Doctor created the thing and he obviously didn't just repeat it from somewhere else as if he were a mere dumb machine following orders."

He got a raised eyebrow for this remark. "I will take your insights into consideration when preparing my defense."

That was all, but Q expected nothing else. When he heard from Commander Chakotay a few days later that the Doctor had won his case as an artist even if he hadn't been declared legally a human, Q spared only a few thoughts to wonder if his contributions had led to the outcome. In fact, he had to remind himself rather sternly that he didn't care and he shouldn't feel proud at all to have helped advanced these lowly humans.

-0-0-0-

Days began stretching into weeks. Life on Voyager continued. Away missions left and returned. The ship even survived a crisis or two, but Q was not directly involved in any of it beyond his normal duties in a support capacity. He continued his research but still hadn't hit on a project that he deemed interesting enough.

Naomi came skipping into a Hoverball game wild with excitement one day. Q had been on Voyager for nearly two months, by their human calendar.

"What's the occasion?" asked Tom Paris, who had agreed to make up the fourth person in the game on this particular day.

"Neelix and I are planning a First Contact Day celebration!" she exclaimed happily. "We'll make special foods and play music that was popular when First Contact was made and all kinds of things! It's going to be so much fun!"

Q and Icheb exchanged puzzled glances. Paris, however, brightened. "That sounds like a great idea. We haven't had a shipwide party in awhile."

"Probably not since your marriage to Lieutenant Torres," Icheb agreed. "But what's First Contact Day?"

"A commemoration of the day humans first made contact with extraterrestrials," Naomi said importantly. "That's what the computer says, anyway."

"On Earth, there are usually big speeches by all sorts of important people made about peace and friendship. Because the species we first contacted were the Vulcans, the Vulcan ambassador to Earth makes the biggest speech." Paris chuckled nostalgically. "Well, by 'biggest' I mean 'most important'. It's usually less than ninety words in length. Old Ambassador Spock had it down to twenty-five words one year when I was ten. I think he holds the record."

"You counted?" Q asked.

"When you're a kid forced to go to those kinds of ceremonies year after year, you have to find some way to entertain yourself," Paris replied. "And you're grateful for a short speech," he added.

"Do you think we can get Tuvok to give a speech?" Naomi asked. "He's the most important Vulcan on Voyager."

"I doubt it," Q chuckled. The Vulcan was not known for being verbose.

"But it can't hurt to ask," Paris said when Naomi looked disappointed. "Make it something simple, like the first words the Vulcans spoke when they arrived on Earth."

The little girl brightened. "They're not so hard. Maybe I can get him to do that."

"How do you know they're not hard?" inquired Icheb.

"Everyone knows what they are," Naomi said.

"Live long and prosper," Q and Tom recited with her.

"Hey, how did _you_ know?" Naomi demanded of Q.

Q tapped his temple smugly. "Omnipotent."

"You're not anymore." Naomi propped her hands on her hips in mock sternness.

"Honestly, you spend more than thirty seconds of your time around Vulcans, it's not hard to guess," Q replied. "Are we going to play or not?"

They settled down into their game, then parted for their usual duties.

For the next few days, every time Q saw Naomi she was full of more details about the party. Chatter about Neelix had had this idea or that, or they'd decided to serve a certain food. She was so enthusiastic, Q found himself looking forward to it even though the celebration made little sense to him. Why commemorate anniversaries like this? He thought he understood the concept of birthdays. Many species found the day one came into the world important and celebrated accordingly. If one marked time by the rotation of a planet, then there would naturally be an anniversary of that date every time the planet went through one revolution around its star. Even he had a birthday, though on the human temporal plane he was about four years old, barely out of infanthood. Good thing that as a Q he'd had a choice about appearance when he took human shape or he'd be stuck in a body even more weak and helpless than Naomi Wildman's.

But this commemoration of an event that had happened hundreds of years before was harder to grasp. No one on board ship, not even the oldest Vulcan, had been alive at their so-called "First Contact" with humans.

Icheb was even more baffled than Q by the whole affair. Among the Borg, each day was the same as the one before it, culturally speaking. It was part of the sameness and equality that made up the perfection they sought. Just as no Borg was set apart from its fellows, so no day was set apart for any special attention.

Neelix overheard them discussing this in the Mess Hall. "It's not about remembering the day itself exactly as it was, boys," he explained. "Anniversaries and holidays are a healthy departure from an otherwise mundane schedule. They're a time to focus on something else for a change and to reflect back on the past. It's good for morale. You'll see."

The day of the party arrived. Q attended out of pure curiosity. Icheb was still busy and wouldn't be able to attend at the times Q had off, so he made his way to the Mess Hall alone.

Music was warbling its way out of a thing Naomi had called an antique "jukebox" in the corner of the room. Much of the crew was milling around, talking in loud, cheerful voices and carrying small containers of food and beverages. Even Aunt Kathy was here, more relaxed than Q had ever seen her.

"Welcome, welcome!" Neelix bustled up, carrying a tray of food. "Pirogi?"

Q took one of the little pockets and automatically put it in his mouth. He knew from Naomi that this was a food that had been a favorite of the human that had invented warp drive for their species. All food was a new experience to him, some good, some bad, but this particular sensation was quite pleasant.

Neelix grinned at his expression. "Enjoy the party!"

Q wandered the fringe of the room, sampling food and shamelessly eavesdropping on conversations. He never got enough chances to do this. Though it was still annoying to be able to focus on only one group of people at a time, just the very act of learning so much about his shipmates at a time made him feel more Q-like. Most of what he learned was trivial, but it was the principle of the thing.

"May I have everyone's attention, please?" Neelix called from the opposite end of the room. "In honor of the three hundred and fifteenth anniversary of his ancestors' arrival on Earth, I've asked Mr. Tuvok to recite the first words spoken to humans by a Vulcan." Everyone murmured appreciatively. "Commander?" Neelix beckoned the Vulcan forward.

Q had to suppress an amused snort at Tuvok's expression. The imposing man was practically radiating reluctance and disdain. "Is this really necessary?" he wanted to know.

Now Q had to cover his mouth to hide the laugh bubbling there. In any other species than a Vulcan, Tuvok's voice would have carried a slight whine. It seemed even the most stoic could be discomfited at these kinds of semi-formalized rituals. In Q's mind, that was a perfect reason to have them.

"You promised!" hissed Neelix.

Tuvok glanced around, clearly noting the expectant smiles of the entire room. "Very well." He raised his hand, fingers split in the formal Vulcan gesture of goodwill. "Live long, and prosper."

The whole crew, from the lowest crewman to Captain Janeway, applauded as if something exciting had just happened. Q watched with amazement. Biped culture really was strange at times.

Neelix started the music up again and began to dance with enthusiasm. "C'mon, Mr. Vulcan!" he encouraged.

Tuvok looked, if possible, even more put out. "Vulcans do not dance."

"But it's tradition!" protested Neelix, still gyrating blithely.

"There is no tradition, Mr. Neelix. This ceremony is entirely your invention."

"This is an official ship function, Commander," broke in Aunt Kathy. "Don't make me order you to dance." Q had never seen that sardonic look on her face before, and he had to applaud her for hiding her sense of humor so well until now. It was nice to see that she had one. And that she'd use it to torment one of her officers in a friendly way. Even better.

Commander Chakotay arrived from the Bridge. He spoke with his Captain briefly, then called Neelix over. Q drifted closer to listen.

"—detected several hundred life signs approximately four point nine lightyears away," Chakotay was saying. He looked at Neelix. "They're Talaxian."

Neelix looked like he'd been hit over the head with one of his cooking pots.

"Set a course, Commander," ordered Janeway.

"Aye, Captain."

Chakotay left, and the party continued. Neelix was still in a daze and couldn't seem to concentrate, so Naomi made sure everything else they'd planned happened. Fortunately there wasn't much; the main point of the whole thing seemed to be mingling and sampling foods. Overall, Naomi concluded the next day, the First Contact Day party was a success. Q still didn't quite understand, but figured if she deemed it a success then by human standards it probably was. He'd just have to accept it as an inexplicable feature of their culture.

"There are some things about mortal cultures we'll just never understand," sighed a voice from beside Q as he contemplated this in his quarters that night.

"Hey, Dad."

"I have to say you seem to be adapting quite well. Must be because you're young."

"What do you want?"

"Just to let you know, the entire Continuum is now watching your progress eagerly. It's the most entertainment we've had in…well, who knows how long."

"Glad to know I'm being helpful. Savior of the Continuum and all."

"You might just be," grinned the older Q. "Keep it up, son, keep it up." He patted Q's shoulder affectionately and vanished again.

"So, no pressure or anything," Q muttered. Deep down, he had to admit it was nice to see his father again, however briefly. He'd missed his dad. Just a little.

He thought he heard a faint, gleeful chuckle that he quickly dismissed.


	5. Birthday

The Talaxian colony was hidden deep in a large asteroid field. It took a few days to reach it. On the way there, Q noticed Icheb was even quieter than usual during their bits of free time together.

"Are you upset you missed the party?" Q asked after the second day of eating lunch in silence. "I told you, you could have skipped—"

"It's not the party," Icheb said shortly.

"Then what?" Q demanded. "C'mon, Ichy, you're being quiet even for a drone, and I know you're not having a conversation with a billion other people in your head. Spill."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Q leaned back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, and grinned.

Icheb stoically turned his face towards his food.

"I'll get it out of you eventually," Q said. "It's me, remember?"

Icheb glowered at him. "It's my birthday," he muttered.

"What?" said Q.

"It's my birthday," Icheb repeated.

"How do you know?" Q asked.

Icheb looked back at his plate.

"Your parents." Q said. Icheb hadn't said much about them, and Q already knew it was a touchy subject.

"They told me when we…found them," Icheb admitted. "I didn't remember until then."

"How old are you?" Q wanted to know.

"Fourteen," Icheb said.

This startled Q for a moment, but then he mentally kicked himself for the lapse. Human memory again. Borg maturation chambers accelerated aging in drones assimilated as children so that they could be useful to the Collective more efficiently. Icheb might physically look about eighteen, but of course he would actually be younger.

"What an odd pair we make, on this temporal plane," he mused.

"What do you mean?" asked Icheb.

"Well, we both look far older than we should, had we aged at a normal rate for our…current species," Q said, gesturing with his hands to make the point. "I at least have the brains to match my looks."

Icheb sent him his best death stare.

"It was a joke, drone-boy. Lighten up," laughed Q. "I'm sure you're way smarter than anyone else your age. Universe, you'd better not tell Captain Janeway your real age—I bet you're too young to officially enlist in Starfleet Academy."

Now Icheb looked really alarmed.

"Relax. I won't tell her if you don't."

"But maybe I should…"

"Nah, they make exceptions for every rule. How many Starfleet regulations did your big hero Kirk flout over the course of his career? And he turned out fine. One of the most decorated Starfleet officers in all of history. So quit worrying. They're not going to throw you out for something so minor as your age. Particularly since you've already passed some of the courses."

"I guess so." Icheb still didn't look entirely convinced, as if wondering whether he should go confess to the Captain.

"You know what?" Q said, standing up. "No more work for you today. It's making you way too tense. We're going to go do something fun."

"But I have a geology exam to study for…"

"Not on your birthday, you don't. I happen to know that most sentient cultures consider the day you dropped into your temporal plane a day to celebrate. You know, a day for _no work_. Look it up if you don't believe me. But not today. We're not doing research today, either. Now, since it's your birthday, I'm going to let you pick what we do."

"What I would _like_ to do is study for my exam," said Icheb.

"No, that doesn't count. Something fun. Don't worry," he grinned at the look on Icheb's face. "I promise I'll ask permission from the Captain if it's anything against some rule of hers."

"Don't tell her it's my birthday," Icheb insisted.

"Why not? Because she'd want to know how old you are and pull you out of Starfleet?" Q asked, still grinning.

"No."

"Why not then?"

Icheb hesitated, but at last said, "She'll want to know how the Brunali celebrate birthdays."

"Ah, dear Aunt Kathy and her respect for cultural heritage. How do the Brunali celebrate birthdays?"

"I can't remember." Now Icheb was looking down.

"Oh." Now Q thought he saw the problem. Icheb was embarrassed by his lack of knowledge about his own culture, even if it was a culture he'd rejected. "Maybe you could look—"

"I already tried."

"Hmmm." Q considered. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"No." Icheb looked puzzled.

"It means you get to celebrate any way you want," Q said as if this was obvious.

Icheb frowned doubtfully. "How do the Q celebrate birthdays?" he finally asked.

"They don't," Q admitted. "I'm the first Q to be born in the Continuum, so I'm the first to have a birthday. And we don't really mark time as mortals know it, so celebrating seemed sort of pointless."

"Would you leave me alone to study if I reminded you the Borg find birthdays irrelevant?"

"No such luck." Q punched Icheb lightly on the shoulder. "You're not a drone anymore, Ichy. It's time to do something for yourself for once. You're long overdue." Still Icheb hesitated. "C'mon. Anything you want, we'll do it. You know, within reason. Don't ask me to make a star go supernova for you so you can study it or anything."

This provoked a small facial twitch that might have been a smile from Icheb. Then he sobered. Q could tell he was thinking, and tried to refrain from rushing him. However, he could only wait so long. Finally he thought he detected another change in facial expression.

"I can tell you thought of something. Spill it, drone-boy."

"The Captain will never agree."

"Tell me anyway."

"I…I want to go on an away mission. There's a star not too far from here that's been showing some unusual activity. With everyone so focused on Neelix finding the Talaxians, no one has mentioned studying it."

Q blinked. "I have to admit, that was not on my list of top ten things to do on your birthday. It doesn't even make the top fifty. But, hey, it's your day, and I guess going on a little road trip counts as fun. Let's go see Aunt Kathy."

"You mean…now?"

"You want to waste the day debating about whether it's a good idea?" Q wanted to know. He had a sense that this might have been in the back of Icheb's mind.

"No, but—"

"Then let's do it."

-0-0-0-

Captain Janeway studied the pair through narrow eyes. "An away mission?"

"It will only take a few hours, ma'am, but the star is exhibiting a type of radiation I believe has never been seen before in a star of its class. I need more data before I can confirm," said Icheb.

Janeway glanced down at the data pad in her hand. Then she looked up again. "And what has Q got to do with this?"

"I need someone to pilot the Delta Flyer while I take the readings," said Icheb.

"Why not someone with more piloting experience?" asked the Captain.

"I offered," Q said quickly. "And I think I can handle the Flyer for a few hours without breaking anything."

Janeway and Icheb both shot him a look—Janeway's assessing, Icheb's a glare. "And this wasn't your idea, Q?" she wanted to know.

"It was my idea, Captain," said Icheb. Q knew better than to give any indication of surprise at this statement—Aunt Kathy would catch it and suspect he was up to something. "I was telling Q about it in the Mess Hall, and he offered to pilot _if_ we could get your permission."

Q nodded encouragingly, trying to look as innocent as possible. Janeway was still suspicious, he could tell, but she was wearing down. At last, she said, "Double-check your findings with Seven of Nine. If she agrees with your assessment, the two of you have my permission."

"Yes, Captain," they said in unison.

"Icheb, you are dismissed to the Astrometrics Lab. Q, stay behind for a minute, please."

Icheb did as he was told, exchanging looks with Q on the way out. Q shrugged.

"What are you up to, Q?" Janeway demanded as soon as Icheb was gone.

"What could possibly make you think I have some nefarious scheme up my sleeve, Aunt Kathy?" asked Q. "We told you the truth. Icheb wants to go on an away mission to look at this star of his, and I agreed to pilot."

"Drop the cute act," said the Captain, sounding a little impatient. "You might be human, but you're still your father's son. You don't do anything for altruistic reasons and we both know it."

"I'm hurt," Q whined, though he grinned inwardly. "My poor little human heart is broken by your mistrust after all these weeks of good behavior."

Janeway raised one delicate eyebrow, and Q's own composure broke. He smiled.

"Tell the truth. What's going on?"

"Icheb won't be happy," Q said. "I'll tell you the real reason behind all this if you promise not to tell him I told you."

Janeway's surprise was evident, but Q could tell she was more curious than suspicious now. "All right. I promise."

"It's his birthday," Q admitted.

Janeway's frown returned. "Why would he want to keep that a secret? We should celebrate."

"We are," said Q. "That's the whole point of this away mission. He can't remember how the Brunali celebrate natal days, and it's not in Voyager's database. I'm not a Q anymore, so I can't just use my almighty cosmic knowledge to help him, either. He was embarrassed to tell anyone that he can't remember that kind of basic stuff about his own culture. So I told him we still had to do something fun, and he said he wanted to do this away mission thing with the star. Not exactly my type of 'fun'—mine would have involved visiting a planet where the culture has exotic female dancers—but I have to make some concessions where drone-boy is concerned."

Janeway allowed herself one chuckle. Then she tapped her Comm. badge. "Janeway to Seven of Nine."

"Here, Captain."

"Is Icheb there yet? I sent him to you."

"I have not seen him, Captain."

"I want you to agree for him to go on an away mission to study a star in a nearby system, even if you believe his data doesn't pan out. That's an order."

A slight hesitation came from Seven as she processed this and decided her Captain would explain later. Or that this was another one of those inexplicable human whims she would never understand. "Yes, Captain."

"Have Icheb report to the Shuttle Bay when he's finished briefing you. Janeway out."

"Thank you, Aunt Kathy," said Q.

"I may have been wrong when I said you lacked altruism," replied the Captain. "Try to help Icheb enjoy the day. Dismissed."

-0-0-0-

"What did the Captain say?" Icheb wanted to know once the pair were underway towards the star.

"Accused me of developing altruistic tendencies for 'agreeing' to 'help' you. Which is completely unfair, seeing that I practically forced you into this. I hope you appreciate the blow to my reputation I've taken because of you."

"You didn't tell her, did you?"

"Of course not." Q glanced at his instrument panel. "ETA to the star's gravity well one hour. What do you want to do until then?"

"Begin preparing to take the readings."

"Wrong answer."

Icheb gave Q a look. Q looked right back at him.

"Seriously? Prepping the computer to collect the data will take you fifteen minutes, maximum. Ten, if I help. That gives us…" a pause to check the readings, "…forty-nine minutes and twelve seconds to celebrate the fact that we're on our first legitimate away mission. Now, since it's your birthday, I'm going to let you suggest something to do. If it's not something I would consider 'fun', I get veto power."

Icheb, obviously realizing that resistance was futile, thought for a moment. "We could program the computer to play the theme song from one of Lieutenant Paris' favorite old TV shows whenever he comes on board."

"Again, not what I would pick, but good enough. You're learning. Maybe we can come up with theme songs for all the senior officers to round it out."

They amused themselves the entire rest of the trip programming the onboard computer using Voyager's music database. Icheb was as relaxed as Q had ever seen him, even cracking a tiny smile every so often. For this alone, Q considered the trip a success no matter what kind of readings they got off the star.

The moment they were remotely in range, however, Icheb was all business again and Q had to accept that boring drone-boy was back. He took over piloting so that Icheb could give his full concentration to his preparations.

At last they were in range. Even Q had to admit the star was pretty, occasionally throwing off blasts of different-colored gases into space. Supernovas were more fun, but of course human physiology could never get close enough to appreciate them properly. Q felt another now-familiar ache at all he was missing out on stuck in this mortal body.

Suddenly the Flyer shuddered.

"Q?"

"Just a minor gravitational fluctuation," Q said, checking his monitors. "Are you getting the data you need?"

"Some of it. My findings are still not conclusive on the type of radiation the star is giving off."

"So we'll go closer." Q twitched the controls for propulsion.

"Q, this star is unstable. In a star of a larger size, this type of radiation would indicate it is a few thousand years from burning itself out."

"Your point?"

"It could mean this smaller star is even closer to that event horizon. There are too many unknown factors. We should maintain a safe distance."

"Do you want your readings or not?" Q demanded. "I thought that was the whole point of dragging ourselves out here. If we're going to play it safe, then we might as well not have come."

"All right. But not _too _close."

"You got it, Captain."

Q didn't need to be all-knowing to see Icheb's disapproving look behind his back at the incorrect title. He grinned. Tweaking any mortal's proverbial tail was fun, but with Icheb it was sickeningly easy.

All was quiet for another few minutes. Q concentrated on giving Icheb as smooth a ride as possible for his sensor readings. He was proud of himself for succeeding; piloting in the unstable gravity well of the star was not a task for a beginner pilot.

Suddenly, the ship began to shake violently. Q jabbed a few flashing buttons on the console before him, trying to ignore how many of them there were. Damn human senses were so easily overstimulated. "The gravitational field of the star is fluctuating again!" he yelled. "I hope you got your readings, Ichy, we're out of here!"

"Do it!" Icheb replied.

A few more taps on the console got the Flyer's nose turned around.

"I have to go to warp to get us out of the star's gravity!" Q announced.

"Warning. Solar forces are increasing to hazardous levels," agreed the ship's computer.

"Tell me something I don't know," snarled Q under his breath. His fingers flew as he continued to monitor the sensors. Suddenly he saw something that made him pause. "Oh, no."

Flinging himself out of the pilot's seat he charged at Icheb behind him. "Icheb, look out!" He dove at the other boy just as the circuits of Icheb's console overloaded, sending a spray of sparks into the air. Q saw miniature bolts of electricity play in front of his eyes.

_That reminds me of being on the fourth planet in that system with all the plasma storms, _he thought vaguely. _What's it's name…it's in the Beta Quadrant somewhere…_ He felt an impact that jarred his fragile human body. _I hate being human,_ was the last thing he thought before darkness smothered any more coherence.

He never did remember the name of that system.

Q blinked. He was staring at a brightly lit white ceiling. His head ached, but it was a muted pain he could easily ignore. He tried to move an arm to discover the rest of him ached, too.

He forced his eyes to move left and right. At least he could do that without pain. To the left was Icheb, looking as concerned as a former drone could be. To the right were the Doctor and Aunt Kathy. The doctor held a hypospray in his hand, with which he had apparently just awakened Q.

"Wha…" Q managed to mumble.

"Welcome back," Janeway said. "You gave us quite a scare. The next time you ask to go on an away mission without one of the senior officers, permission denied."

"Wasn't my…fault," Q croaked. He coughed weakly, hating the painful sensations coursing over him.

"It wasn't, Captain," Icheb agreed. "I told you what happened. Q probably saved my life."

_Leave it to drone-boy to add 'probably' into that statement_, Q grumbled to himself. _That's gratitude for you._

"It was my fault. I asked to go on the mission in the first place," Icheb asserted.

Q and Janeway exchanged looks. They both knew where the fault lay, if there was any fault to be had.

"It was an accident," Q rasped. "Don't try to take all the credit, drone-boy."

"Thank you, Icheb. You're dismissed," said Janeway. Icheb looked at the floor. "We'll keep you informed of Q's progress."

"He should be well enough to leave Sickbay in a few hours," the Doctor opined.

Icheb left. The Doctor came over and injected something else into Q's neck. Whatever it was, it began to work. Q's aches faded considerably. He sighed.

"You sustained some mild internal burns from the surge in the console," the balding hologram informed him. "You'll need some rest, but it will be a quick recovery. I am very practiced with this treatment by now."

"I really didn't do anything, Aunt Kathy," Q said after a silent moment and the Doctor had retreated again. "It _was_ an accident. Maybe we were a little too close to the star to be completely safe, but hey, no reward without risk, right? We were having completely harmless fun until then."

"Icheb told me what happened. You don't need to explain," said Janeway.

"He was actually enjoying himself for a change. Or at least I thought so," Q sighed. Whatever the Doctor had put in him was making him feel sleepy. "I guess no good deed goes unpunished, as you humans say. Chalk this one up in your log, Captain. It will be the last altruistic deed you'll see from me for awhile." He yawned.

"Will you be angry if I tell you I hope not?" answered his godmother.

Q snorted. "See how many more I manage…" yawn "…if I end up in Sickbay at the end of every one."

"Was it worth it?" Aunt Kathy wanted to know, but he could hear the smile in her voice.

Q huffed a sigh and closed his eyes. "Yeah. I guess so."

There was quiet. He thought Janeway might have left. Just as he was drifting off, he heard her say, almost to herself, "Your son's changing, Q. He's _changed._ Have you noticed? How much will be enough?"

If there was a reply, he didn't hear it.

As predicted, the Doctor released Q when he woke from his healing sleep a few hours later. Q found he felt a little stiff but fine. He immediately sought out Icheb.

The former drone was easy to find. He was in Cargo Bay Two, working on something on the console. He turned as Q came in.

"I'm glad to see you've recovered."

"Good as new." Q proved it with a stretch. He leaned casually against the console's edge. Icheb still appeared to be absorbed in whatever he was working on. "Listen, Ichy…it really wasn't your fault."

"I shouldn't have risked our lives like that for some data."

"Have you forgotten it was my idea?" Q demanded. "Don't tell me you've swallowed your own line you fed to the Captain. Good one, by the way. I've taught you well. She bought that the whole trip was your idea hook, line and sinker. No, she doesn't blame you either," he added when Icheb opened his mouth. "Give Aunt Kathy some credit, Ichy. She's been running a ship long enough to know an accident when she sees one. Even when I'm involved."

That brought Icheb's face-twitch that served as a smile. Then he went back to emotionless. "And she still doesn't—"

"No, she still doesn't know it's your birthday." Q rolled his eyes to cover the lie. "Wow, is that still today? We need to come up with something else to do."

Icheb looked at him in alarm.

"I get to pick this time. You're terrible at picking fun things," Q said, dragging the drone away from the console. "C'mon. We'll go to the Holodeck and see if we can get in on a hoverball tournament. _That_ at least is guaranteed to be free of unexpected console surges and stars with weirdly powerful gravity wells."

"But—"

"You can try again at picking something fun to do on your birthday _next_ year. You have a whole year to grind your Borg circuits on that one."


	6. Homestead

Things again settled down on Voyager, at least for a day or two. Neelix and several crew members went on a mission to the Talaxian colony Chakotay had discovered and crash-landed. They were gone for a few days, worrying Naomi, but it turned out the Talaxians who had captured them were being overly cautious due to unpleasant experiences with other outsiders. Neelix was soon back.

He wasn't alone. He brought a Talaxian woman and her son with him.

Q was suspicious when he first saw the three of them together in a corridor. Not because there was anything sinister about the woman or her child, who was about Naomi's age biology-wise. But he suspected that when the time came to say goodbye to these people, Neelix wouldn't be able to.

What he didn't suspect was his own part in the decision.

"Come in," he called when his door buzzed the next evening. He was perched on his bed, studying the Borg additions to Voyager on a Padd. He looked up when the door swished open, figuring his visitor was Naomi or Icheb. To his surprise, it was Neelix standing in his doorway, looking more uncertain than Q had ever seen the Talaxian.

"Um, Q," he said, wringing his hands a little.

Q stood slowly. He could see by Neelix's expression that whatever he was there to talk about was very serious.

Still, that was no reason not to insert some levity. Q grinned sardonically. "Make yourself comfortable." He gestured grandly at his tiny quarters.

Neelix took one hesitant step inside. This really was serious.

Q sobered. "What can I do for you?"

Another step forward. "I came to talk to you about something important."

"You're thinking about leaving Voyager." It wasn't a question.

Neelix's bushy eyebrows rose and his mouth half-opened.

Q laughed. "Everyone does that when I say something that only requires basic deductive reasoning to figure out. And some good observation skills. You don't need to be a Q to know some things. Why did you feel the need to tell me in person?"

"I haven't made my decision yet. But I wanted to talk to you about Naomi."

"What about her?"

"You know I'm her godfather, right? If anything happens to her mother, I'm the one who's supposed to take care of her. I helped Ensign Wildman with all the baby chores; I tucked Naomi in at night and told her fairy tales. She's growing up and she doesn't need me for any of those things anymore. But if I leave…" Abruptly the Talaxian switched gears. "She likes you very much. And Icheb. She looks up to the two of you."

Q was floored. He had come to like Naomi, and Icheb, in the months he'd been imprisoned on this ship. Naomi in particular was impossible not to like, even for someone as jaded to the uniqueness of life as a Q. But he'd never really thought of himself as a role model for her. It was she who'd originally sought his friendship, made him start to think that life as a mortal might not be so bad. In a way, they were equals, being young by human standards and without a defined place on a regimented Federation ship.

"If I make the decision to leave," Neelix continued, "I want to know that she'll be looked after. Of course she has her mother, and she's becoming a very independent young lady, but she needs something else, too."

"What makes you think I can be responsible for her well-being?" Q wanted to know. There was no malice or bitterness in the question, to his own surprise. "I can barely keep myself out of trouble, let alone anyone else."

"You're different than when you first came aboard," Neelix said with a decisive nod. "And not only because you can't remove my vocal chords with a snap of your fingers. I think now if you could, you wouldn't."

Damn the kitchen rat for being right, Q thought viciously. Being helpless was not a fate he'd wish on anyone anymore.

"I know I can trust you to look out for Naomi. You care about her."

Q did not respond to that, but they both knew Neelix was right. "I'll keep an eye on her. I promise," he said.

Neelix sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. "Thank you. I'll leave you to whatever you were doing." And he whisked out.

Q stared at the closed door for a moment. "Did I just give him permission to leave Voyager?" he asked the air. Then he punched the bulkhead, leaving him with aching knuckles. "Idiot! What did I get myself into?"

-0-0-0-

Captain Janeway announced the time of Neelix's departure to the entire crew. Q had known when Neelix left his quarters what the decision was going to be. You didn't need omnipotent powers for that. He'd kept his insights from Naomi. Neelix would have to take that difficult task himself. Q refused to do his dirty work for him, though a few months ago it would have given him great pleasure to be the superior all-knowing one.

Naomi came to visit Q in his quarters after Neelix gave her the news. She didn't cry, though he could see that she had been weeping a little. Neither of them talked. They just sat side by side on Q's bed, Q working on his Padd while Naomi stared into space. At last, Naomi just sighed and leaned her head very gently on Q's shoulder. Q tensed, but he didn't shrug her off. Eventually he had to curl an arm around her shoulders in order to be able to use his second hand efficiently. Naomi didn't move from that position until her mother called her for dinner.

After she left, Q cursed Neelix a few more times. He knew their agreement was now sealed for good.

When Neelix left, the whole crew lined the halls from the turbolift to the Shuttle Bay to show their respect for him as he departed. Naomi stood next to the Captain just before the doors to the bay. Icheb and Q stood unobtrusively behind them.

Neelix stopped before his goddaughter and former Captain. Naomi said nothing. "Goodbye, and good luck, Ambassador," Janeway said gently.

Neelix nodded to her. He sent a wink to Naomi, then looked behind her. He met eyes with Icheb and Q for a few moments, and each nodded ever so slightly. Neelix turned to acknowledge the rest of the crew, then started through the door.

"Mr. Neelix," said Tuvok, stepping forward. Everyone turned to stare as the Vulcan wiggled one foot in a very simple imitation of Neelix's dance from a few days previously. "Live long, and prosper," Tuvok finished formally.

Neelix recovered from his shock quickly. He smiled at Tuvok, and then walked decisively into the Shuttle Bay.

-0-0-0-

Things were different after Neelix left. Naomi in particular was very subdued, and kept seeking out Q and Icheb at unexpected times. She'd wander in during a duty shift as if by complete accident, hang around watching for a little while, ask a few pertinent questions, then wander out again. Q caught himself wishing Neelix were still around if only so he could ask him what he made of Naomi's behavior.

To Q's surprise, it was B'Elanna Torres who offered an explanation. "She probably just wants to reassure herself that the two of you haven't gone anywhere while her back was turned," she said after Naomi had dropped in on Q in Engineering.

"She could just use the locating function on our Comm. badges," Q pointed out.

B'Elanna shook her head. "It's not that she thinks you've physically left the ship. Your presence is a stabilizing force right now. I went through something similar after my grandmother died. My mother tells me I was always underfoot for awhile afterwards, until I got used to her being gone."

"How long do you think it will last?" Q wanted to know.

"It depends on when she feels ready," B'Elanna said with a shrug. "You can't push her. If you do, it will only get worse."

Q shuddered. "I hope she relaxes soon. I don't plan to go anywhere."

Tom Paris, who happened to be visiting his wife and unborn child, offered, "Just pretend you don't notice she's doing anything unusual. With luck the uproar over Neelix leaving won't last too long." He paused. "We're all missing him."

"Particularly his cooking." B'Elanna patted the bump that was their baby comfortingly.

"We'll just have to make do with replicated food until someone volunteers to take Neelix's place in the kitchen," Paris said.

"Don't look at me." Q raised his hands. "They took me off kitchen duty because I managed to burn water instead of boil it."

"Now wait a second, water doesn't burn," Tom said, frowning.

"It does if you modify the burner the right way."

Torres rolled her eyes. "You would." There was no malice in her words, only amused resignation.

"Have to keep things interesting," Q grinned. "Neelix made me change it back, then asked the Captain that I not be stationed in the Mess Hall anymore in case I found a way to get vegetables to sublimate."

"Speaking of modifications, have you come up with a project to propose yet?" Tom wanted to know.

"Not yet," Q admitted. "I'm nearly finished with my research on all the modifications Voyager has gone through in the past seven years. Once that's done, I'll have a better idea of what the ship might need."

"_All_ the modifications? That's impressive. I don't think I can remember them all, and I supervised most of them." B'Elanna folded her arms and rested them on her belly.

Q shrugged. "Icheb suggested it. It hasn't been that hard, and the specs are admittedly pretty fascinating."

"Thank you." B'Elanna nodded with a slight smile, looking flattered. "From a Q, that's quite a compliment."

"I'm not a Q," Q reminded her. "And if you'll excuse me, I'm due in Astrometrics."

"Of course. I'm sure Seven's expecting you," Torres said. Q nodded to the pair and walked out.

-0-0-0-

Q followed Lieutenant Paris' suggestion for the next week. He tried to act as if Naomi dropped by to visit him on duty all the time, and encouraged Icheb to do the same. Naomi's visits gradually decreased, and within two weeks of Neelix's departure was almost her old self again.

During this time there was some upheaval with the Doctor's program being commandeered by aliens and attacking several of the senior officers. When the ship went to Red Alert, Icheb happened to have Naomi with him in Cargo Bay Two. Q checked in with them to make certain they were both safe, then used his modified Padd that allowed him to monitor things from his quarters without disrupting any of the ship's functions. The ship lost main power for a time, and Q and Icheb were needed to help get it back online. Naomi was left in the care of her mother.

It took time to restore main power, but once it was back, everyone on board had to pause to take stock. The Captain was missing, and it turned out that she'd never returned from her last away mission; it had been the Doctor impersonating her. Tom Paris and Tuvok were dispatched to retrieve her and the Doctor, who had fled with Voyager's warp core. Everyone else continued to repair remaining damage to the ship cause by the core's ejection.

Q heard by accident from Lieutenant Torres that the Captain, the Doctor and the warp core had been located and were en route to Voyager. Q himself had some off-duty time coming up and decided on a whim to use his Padd to watch the return.

He was not disappointed. The Doctor was having trouble with his program and so he and the Captain transported directly to one of the Holodecks. The Doctor, believing he was "dying" a holographic death of de-compilation, made a series of deathbed confessions, each more hilarious than the last. Q nearly fell off his bed laughing when the Doctor dropped to his knees before Seven of Nine and pronounced his love for her. The look on Seven's face was absolutely priceless and Q wouldn't have missed it for the world. He'd never seen her Borg calm so shattered. It was too bad he could never let on that he'd been able to see any of this spectacle. He hoped the watching members of the Continuum enjoyed it as much as he did.


	7. Consequences

Q's good mood over the Doctor's antics lasted several days after the incident. Whenever he started to sink into the monotony of daily life on Voyager, he'd picture one of the Doctor's confessions and immediately feel better.

Q was grinning in Astrometrics after one of these mood boosters when he was startled by his Comm. badge.

"Ensign Wildman to Q."

"Go ahead," he responded.

"Q, is Naomi with you?"

Q and Seven of Nine exchanged glances. "No, she's not here," Q said.

"Have you seen her today?"

"I saw her this morning at breakfast. She said she had an anthropology assignment from Commander Chakotay and she was planning to spend most of the day in your quarters finishing it."

"She's not here." Even from across the ship Q could hear Samantha Wildman's worry. "I had hoped she'd be with you or Icheb. I'll try him next. Ensign Wildman out."

"Why can't she just use Naomi's Comm. badge to locate her?" Q asked Seven.

"It seems an inefficient use of resources to enquire of crew members when the information could be obtained through the ship's computer," Seven agreed. "However, I have noticed that human social protocols dictate that one 'ask' rather than simply use the computer to locate someone unless there is an emergency. There is some fear of violation of personal privacy." The former Borg's tone made it clear she found this baffling.

"Of course. For the Borg there is no such thing as personal privacy." Q nodded.

"It is irrelevant. What is the point of hiding from one another when we each know all the others' thoughts?" Seven gave her equivalent of a shrug, which meant one shoulder moved almost imperceptibly, and went back to her work.

"Ensign Wildman to Q."

"Yes?"

"Icheb isn't responding to his Comm. badge. I tried to locate Naomi's but it's sitting here on her desk. She might have forgotten to put it on when she left the room."

"Computer, locate Icheb," Seven of Nine commanded. She gave Q a look that clearly said _This is the time to ignore issues of personal privacy._

Q wholeheartedly agreed. Icheb wouldn't mind anyway; he was a former drone himself.

"Icheb is in Cargo Bay Two," the computer announced.

"If Seven can spare me, I'll go down to Cargo Bay Two and see why Icheb isn't responding," Q offered to Ensign Wildman. "Maybe he's sick and the Doctor has him regenerating or something. Naomi might want to keep him company without disturbing him."

"Thank you. I'd really appreciate it."

Seven nodded to Q, who took off for the Cargo area at a trot. He knew the ship extremely well by now and it didn't take him long to arrive. The doors to Cargo Bay Two swished open at his approach.

"Icheb, if you're—" Q stopped. Cargo Bay Two was dark except for the green glow above the Borg regeneration alcoves. All of them were empty.

"Lights," Q commanded, cursing as usual the lack of omniscience that would have allowed him to tell where Icheb and Naomi were from Astrometrics.

The lights in the room came on. There was definitely no one there. "Computer, locate Icheb," he tried.

"Icheb is in Cargo Bay Two."

"No, he isn't," Q muttered grouchily. The computer, of course, did not respond. A visual scan of Icheb's usual alcove turned up his Comm. badge sitting innocently at the base. Q picked it up and started back for Astrometrics.

Now, Naomi might occasionally forget her Comm. badge, but Icheb never did. In fact, he never took his off since he didn't need to do so to regenerate. A Comm. badge but no Icheb meant trouble.

"Q to Seven of Nine," he said, pressing his own Comm. badge.

"Were you able to locate Icheb?" she inquired.

"No. We've got a problem. I'm coming back to Astrometrics now." He arrived in the lab as he spoke. Seven of Nine was still there, and Ensign Wildman had joined her.

"I found Icheb's Comm. badge by his alcove." Q held it up. "I think it's a safe bet that they're not on the ship anymore."

"Do you mean something took them?" Ensign Wildman asked, clutching her hands together.

"It is best not to draw any conclusions without further evidence," Seven interjected. She pushed her Comm. badge. "Seven of Nine to the Captain."

"What is it, Seven?" the Captain's voice enquired.

"We cannot locate Icheb and Naomi Wildman," Seven said, getting right to the point. "Ensign Wildman contacted Q, who is on duty here, to see if Naomi was in Astrometrics. She was not, so she tried to contact Icheb. Icheb did not respond, and a search of Cargo Bay Two revealed his Comm. badge had been removed. Naomi Wildman's was found on her desk."

There was a pause. "All right. I'm ordering a Yellow Alert. I'll have Commander Tuvok begin a deck-by-deck search of the ship. Is Ensign Wildman with you?"

"Yes."

"Samantha, Tuvok will contact you right away if he finds Naomi."

"Thank you, Captain."

"If not—" Janeway paused, and Q could almost hear her swallow away a dry throat. "If either Icheb or Naomi is not found, then we need to discover what has happened to them and why their Comm. badges were left behind. Seven, you and Q start running scans to check for any unusual activity on board or in the immediate area."

"Acknowledged," Seven said.

"Q, you're assigned to Astrometrics until this is solved," Janeway continued.

"Yes, Captain."

"Ensign Wildman, return to your quarters. Don't worry, we'll find them."

Seven took charge as soon as Samantha Wildman left. "Begin scanning for any trace of ships in the vicinity. I will scan the closest star systems for anomalies."

Q nodded and they set to work. All the while he puzzled in the back of his mind how this could have happened. How had Icheb and Naomi gotten off the ship without anyone noticing, leaving their Comm. badges behind? Icheb was too responsible to just go somewhere without telling anyone. That was more Q's realm of expertise, and the old Q rather than the permanently human model at that. Besides, a quick check to the computer revealed that none of Voyager's shuttles or escape pods had been launched.

How he was certain that Icheb and Naomi weren't on Voyager, Q wasn't sure. He just knew deep down Commander Tuvok's search would reveal nothing. Had he still been a Q he would have chalked this seemingly innate knowledge down to his omnipotence. As a human, this sense was harder to explain.

There was also a growing sense that this was somehow his fault. The idea was ridiculous, but it was there nonetheless. Anyone else on the ship would scoff and say this was just some sort of reaction to the disappearance of the two people on board he was closest to. But it was that very thing that made him keep coming back to the notion that this couldn't be a coincidence.

"Janeway to Astrometrics."

Seven looked up from her work. "Go ahead, Captain."

"Progress?"

"I haven't found any sign of activity in the area," Q reported. "If there's a cloaked ship, it left a trail Voyager's scans can't detect. And the closest systems are uninhabited as far as I can tell."

"I'm picking up some anomalous readings less than a light year away, but it's difficult to get a fix on them. Their location and even their makeup are continually fluctuating," said Seven.

"Do you think this anomaly has anything to do with Icheb and Naomi's disappearance?" Janeway wanted to know.

"Possible, but unlikely," replied Seven. "There is no trace of any changes to Voyager of the type that are occurring in this phenomenon. However, the anomaly does seem to be maintaining course with Voyager."

"Captain," came Tom Paris' voice in the background of the Bridge. "We're being hailed."

"What?" Janeway said. "I thought you just said there were no ships in the area, Q."

"I did. That's still the case, according to sensors," answered Q, checking his readings.

"Audio only," reported Paris' voice.

"Let's hear it," Janeway commanded.

A strange, soft voice, almost a whisper, came hissing through Voyager's communications systems. "Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. Greetings." The sound made Q's blood turn icy in his veins.

"This is Captain Janeway. To whom am I speaking?"

"We are the Quanta," came the whispery voice. "We have your missing children."

Q didn't hear beyond this because he had left at a dead sprint for the Bridge. He arrived panting a few minutes later, and after he'd caught his breath he realized everyone in the room was staring at him in a kind of solemn horror.

"They have Icheb and Naomi," Q gasped. "Did they say what they wanted to get them back?" He had a feeling he already knew.

"My Ready Room," the Captain said, gesturing. Q followed her, though he halfheartedly considered just breaking for one of the shuttle bays. He'd be caught by Tuvok's security teams before he made it a quarter of the way.

The door swished shut. Janeway turned to face Q, who clasped his hands behind him.

"They want me." It was not a question. "If you hand me over, they'll return Naomi and Icheb."

"Yes." Aunt Kathy looked very serious. "I've refused, and bought us some time."

"But—"

"I won't countenance turning you over. They told me straight out they plan to kill you."

"That's fine with me, if it will bring Icheb and Naomi back."

Janeway went very still. "No. There has to be another way. Pushing Icheb away from his console and accidentally getting caught in the overload is one thing. But deliberately choosing to—"

"There isn't another way," Q interrupted. "You don't know them. The Quanta are far more technologically advanced than you in every way. If you don't hand me over, then not only will they kill Naomi and Icheb, but they'll destroy this ship and everyone on it. And they'll make me watch, before they kill me too and scatter my atoms to the four corners of the galaxy. At least that's what they promised to do the last time we met."

"What happened, Q?" Janeway enquired gently. "Tell me what you did to them. Maybe we can offer to help them in exchange for Naomi and Icheb."

"It won't work." Q looked away. "It was a year or so before I came to Voyager, on your temporal plane. You know what I was like. What I was capable of. I played what seemed at the time a funny prank on them."

Janeway's eyes narrowed. Of course she'd be well aware of the kind of 'pranks' he'd been able to pull as an all-powerful being. "Exactly what did you do?"

"I destroyed their planet." At Janeway's look, he hastened to explain, "My father put it back, exactly the way it was! But the Quanta are a very powerful and relatively advanced psychic race. They knew who was responsible, though a lesser species would never even have remembered what happened. They swore they'd have vengeance by destroying what was most important to me and making me watch, as I'd done to them. I laughed, of course. They could never capture a Q, and even if they could find a way, I didn't particularly care about anything.

"Things are different now. I'd completely forgotten about them, but I'm certain they knew the minute I became mortal and have been tracking me down ever since."

Janeway had been looking more and more grave throughout this speech. Q could almost see the lines on her face deepening. "Why aren't they showing up on our sensors?"

"Well, they are. They're the anomalous readings Seven was detecting. That's all this ship has the capacity to locate."

"Could we modify the sensors to detect them?" Janeway wanted to know.

Q thought about it. "Probably, but the modifications would take days to integrate. And detecting them won't do you any good. Their weapons will penetrate your shields like they aren't even there." He paused. "Captain, you have to know there's only one option here."

"No. I won't allow you to sacrifice yourself. There's got to be another option we haven't explored yet."

"Such as?"

"Maybe we could reason with them. Show them how much you've changed."

Q had to chuckle. "Aunt Kathy, you're grasping at straws with that one. This is a culture that chased me across the entire galaxy over something that the entire Borg Collective would be hard put to prove even _happened_. They won't buy into the cute little "just say you're sorry and we'll call it even" dance that you idealistic Federation types do."

"And what am I supposed to say to your father, young man? That I just let you go?" Janeway folded her arms.

Q shrugged. "He probably already knows. He told me the whole Continuum is watching. If they were going to get me out of this one, they would have already." He looked away. "Captain, you and I know both the truth. I'm a failure as a Q and a human. I caused this. I have to make it right. You need Icheb and Naomi. You don't need me." He turned to go.

Janeway caught his arm and clutched it hard enough to bruise. "That's not true." He was startled to see tears glimmering in her eyes. "How can you doubt your own worth, Q? Not because of what you can do, or what you used to be, but as an individual? You're not the same person that came aboard Voyager a few months ago. The fact that we're even having this conversation proves that."

"Don't you think I know that?" Q snapped. "This isn't some stupid test made up by my father to impress the Continuum. This is real. _I caused this._ I know the consequences. And I know what will happen if I don't do it."

"There has to be another way. There always is," she argued.

"There isn't." He smiled sadly. "I promised Neelix I'd look after Naomi. I'd be doing a horrible job if I let her die within two weeks because of a mistake I made."

"I won't accept this," she insisted.

"I'm going. You can't stop me."

"I can. You're human—you can't just snap your fingers and go wherever you want. You're also a member of my crew. If I think you're going to deliberately put yourself in danger I'll confine you to the Brig until we figure out another solution."

Q saw then that she was not going to give up on him no matter what he said. It was nice, in a way, to know she cared that much. She was being too pigheaded for her own good, though. "Do it, then. I won't change my mind."

She walked him down to the Brig herself. Q went passively enough, thinking hard. Janeway always believed she knew what was best for her crew. In this case, though, she was dead wrong. If she wanted Icheb and Naomi back alive and to get her crew home to the Alpha quadrant, then having him on board was not her best option. There were other species like the Quanta who might be looking for him even if they somehow got out of this particular situation.

And he'd been studying the ship's schematics for weeks. He knew exactly how the Brig confinement cells operated. And how far it was from the Brig to the shuttle dock. All he had to do was keep anyone from noticing he was gone until it was too late.

"I'm sorry, Q," Janeway said as she activated the containment field that would keep him inside his small cell.

"Me, too, Aunt Kathy," he replied. He hoped she'd understand later.

She gave him a sad look and departed.

After she left, he waited a reasonable amount of time until he was sure she was back on the Bridge. Probably trying to negotiate with the Quanta. Then he easily overrode the containment field and killed the alert that would be sent to the Bridge. It was the work of mere seconds. Against protocol when there was a prisoner in the Brig, the Captain hadn't left a security officer in the room with him. Probably she figured she'd persuaded him to let her handle the situation and he'd sit quietly until it was all over.

How wrong she was. No containment field on the ship could hold him for long if he wanted out.

Q didn't bother sneaking as he made his way to the docking bay. He doubted most of the crew even knew he was supposed to be in the Brig or that their latest crisis involved him at all. If he snuck he would just arouse suspicion. He simply strode purposefully towards the shuttles. No one questioned him.

He debated a moment once he arrived. The Delta Flyer was much more advanced than a standard shuttle craft, but Tom Paris—and most of the other crew who got to go on away missions—loved that thing. To lose it on a suicide mission felt wrong. He'd just have to take one of the other shuttlecraft and hope he could get out of range of Voyager's tractor beam quickly enough. He remembered to randomize the shield's harmonics and remove his comm. badge so they couldn't lock on to beam him back.

He only just made it out of range before his communications buzzed. "Voyager to Q. Lower your shields and return to the docking bay." It was Janeway's voice.

"Sorry, Aunt Kathy. You know I can't do that." He swallowed. Even as a human, he hadn't thought death would come this quickly. His courage was hanging on by a thread as it was. "Tell Icheb and Naomi I said goodbye."

"Q, don't do this. We can—"

He cut her off. "Please, Aunt Kathy, just let me go. I know what I'm doing is the right thing."

"Q…" Her voice wavered. "You're an incredible young man. We've been…proud to know you."

"The pleasure is mutual, Captain. I really hope you get home someday." He killed the line, then switched to a non-Starfleet frequency.

"Q to the Quanta. You wanted me. Here I am. Now send the two children back to Voyager."

"It's done," the whispery voice replied. "We are surprised to see you, Q. We did not believe you would surrender."

"Believe it or not, there are things more important than me," Q answered firmly. "Get it over with already."

"Warning," the shuttle's computer intoned. "Weapons fire of unknown origin detected."

"Hold position." Q commanded. A bright white light that looked like a comet was coming directly at his viewscreen. He closed his eyes.


	8. Continuum

"And I believe that does the trick," said a voice from behind him.

Q's eyes flew open. The white light was frozen in space several thousand meters away. He spun. "Dad!"

His father lounged against one of the tactical chairs. "You do like to put things off until the last minute. Must have gotten that from your mother."

"In case you hadn't noticed, I'm about to be destroyed here," Q snapped, completely exasperated. "I'd like not to continue putting off the whole oblivion thing."

"Now that's hardly necessary," his father said in a chiding tone, examining his nails far too casually. "After all, you could just snap your fingers and be on Golis Prime if you wanted to."

It took Q a few seconds to absorb this. "You mean…the Continuum's returned my powers? I'm a Q again?"

"Of course." His father grinned, actually looking genuinely pleased. "You were really willing to sacrifice yourself this time and you saw it through to the end despite your well-meaning godmother trying to talk you out of it. You've finally demonstrated all aspects of that exemplary Q-ness they were looking for."

"And what about the Quanta? Was that all a test, too?"

"No, no, that's real enough." Q waved airily at the frozen ball of light on the viewscreen. "You of all people know how hard it is to manipulate the Quanta, even for a Q. But I'm sure now that you have your powers you'll be able to smooth things over one way or another."

Q sat back in the pilot's chair, taking it all in. He was still outwardly in adolescent human shape, of course, but underneath he felt all of the currents of the universe that were the hallmark of being a Q flowing back into him. He _knew_ things again. He could snap his fingers and make anything happen. But the power wasn't completely intoxicating anymore. The person—the _adult_, he realized—he'd become on Voyager was still there. Having this much power was still exciting, but it was tempered with the knowledge that the things he did could hurt people if he didn't plan properly.

But he couldn't sit here with time frozen forever. Well, he could, but that would be completely boring. He had things to do.

He grinned at his father and snapped his fingers.

-0-0-0-

In an instant, he stood inside the Quanta vessel. To humans, the Quanta would look like floating balls of light against the blinding white background of their ships' interiors. This light was just the tips of their antennae, evolved so they could be certain of one another's locations. They were able to generate a personal shield with their psychic abilities that rendered the rest of their bodies invisible. A Q's eyes, however, could see them as they really were: a combination of insect and humanoid features.

"All right," Q said, folding his arms. "Here I am. Have your shot at me."

"We see you are a Q again," came the whispering voice. Like the Borg, the Quanta were a collective, though far less totalitarian. They had a psychic connection that allowed them to read each others' thoughts and speak in plural tense, but the actions of individuals were not controlled by the group.

"Yes, I am. But I won't stop your vengeance on me. I deserve it, for the insult to your culture. I can only offer my most sincere apologies." Not for nothing had he spent all those hours of diplomacy lessons with Commander Chakotay.

"We cannot destroy a Q," came the answer after a pause. "We have not the power. We have discovered this since our last encounter. However, you have submitted to our judgment, and we believe we have a solution. We see that your good intentions in coming before us are sincere. We swore to make you watch as we destroyed what was most important to you. If you will submit to a vision we will send to you of the Starship Voyager destroyed with the loss of all aboard, we will consider ourselves avenged. It will be a vision only. As we must live with the memory of the destruction of our planet at your hands, even though in this timeline it did not occur, thus you must bear this vision. Do you accept?"

Q nodded. "Yes." It was the least he deserved.

One of the Quanta came forward. It placed two delicate feeler-hands on his temples. Q closed his eyes.

He opened them to the blackness of space. He had a moment of panic before he realized that he was a Q again and could exist in literally any environment.

Voyager flew past in all its glory, majestic looking against the spangled backdrop. Q couldn't believe he had once disdained this ship. Antiquated it still was compared to even the Quanta's vessels, but Q now felt a familiar affection for the thing. And its crew.

In swooped the Quanta ship, visible now and twice the size of Voyager. As Q himself had predicted, Voyager's shields might as well not have been there. The thing that broke Q's heart—if he'd still had one—was the evidence that the Voyager crew were fighting back valiantly. Tom Paris was at the helm; Q could see him in the Bridge, Janeway and Chakotay seated behind him. The lights were dim in Red Alert…

Voyager dodged the first attack in a brilliant show of piloting skills. The second, it was not so lucky. One of the glowing comet balls caught the bank of port thrusters. Dead in the water, there was no help for the lone Federation ship. Another volley crippled it for good. Long scars were torn in the hull.

Q could see it all, from the inside as well as out. Aunt Kathy's face when she realized her ship was doomed, that she would never see her crew safely home. Tom Paris wishing he could run down to Engineering to hold his wife as they died, never knowing their unborn daughter who was due in scant weeks. Chakotay outwardly calm, eyes closed, meditating—but knuckles white on the armrests of his chair. Harry Kim and B'Elanna Torres frantically working, trying to find a way out. Tuvok, Seven of Nine and Icheb stoically manning their posts with no hint of emotion. The Doctor, performing triage with the horrific casualties coming into Sickbay. And Naomi, huddled in her quarters by herself, going to die without her mother because Samantha was one of the casualties in Sickbay.

Q saw everything, right up until the final shot that overloaded the Warp Core. Within seconds the ship was nothing but bits of debris.

They were all gone.

Q blinked, and he was back on the Quanta ship. His fists were clenched, and he was startled to feel tears on his cheeks. Q weren't supposed to be able to cry, but he guessed his time as a human had rubbed off a little too much.

The Quanta stepped back, looking satisfied. "Now you know the pain we all felt, and still feel, even knowing it never happened and our loved ones are safe."

"I never thought omnipotence could be a burden," Q admitted, dashing the wetness from his face in profound embarrassment. "I saw it all…I watched them die…

"I never knew until now how much I cared about them. Even now that I'm no longer one of them."

"Then you have learned something valuable," said the Quanta. "We felt nothing but hatred and contempt for you before, but now…we think your time as a mortal has made you into something stronger and more compassionate than a Q has ever been before. We would not be sorry to encounter you again, should our paths cross."

Q nodded, completely surprised at these remarks.

"Remember…" the Quanta added in its whispering voice. "You will suffer their losses eventually, although not all at the same time as you just witnessed. They are mortal; you are mortal no longer."

"No wonder the Q tend to only see mortals as annoyances or entertainment," Q agreed. "It's almost easier than to get attached."

"Easier, but perhaps not better." The Quanta nodded its head, its antennae waving gently. "Now, go. Your friends are wondering what has become of you."

-0-0-0-

When Q reappeared on the Bridge of Voyager, he'd made some cosmetic changes to himself. He maintained most of his physical characteristics as a human, but he aged his appearance by ten years or so. He even gave himself a little facial hair. Now, instead of a boy of about sixteen he looked like a man approaching thirty. Just to give them a surprise. Besides, he _felt_ much older. He wasn't an adolescent anymore, in any sense.

He appeared in front of the door to the Turbolift, as if he'd just walked in. For a moment, no one noticed and he was able to take in the scene. Everything looked normal, except Naomi, Icheb and Ensign Wildman were there. Naomi had her face half-buried in her mother's uniform. They were gathered in a small group around Janeway and Chakotay in the middle of the Bridge. The whole group looked very serious. Naomi appeared near tears.

Q cleared his throat.

"Q!" Naomi threw herself at him. She didn't even notice his changed appearance before she flung her arms around his waist. Q returned the hug without reservations.

To Q's shock, Aunt Kathy wasn't far behind the little girl. Her hug was more dignified and brief, but it had just as much force as Naomi's. Q saw Icheb with an enormous smile (for him) over Janeway's shoulder. Chakotay and Ensign Wildman grinned next to him.

The Captain drew away, and took a good look at Q's face. Her expression changed to a look of startled concern. "What happened?"

"I did it. I'm a Q again," he explained.

"Congratulations."

"I also took care of the Quanta. They're on their way back to their own world." He leaned around Aunt Kathy to address Chakotay. "Your stupid training programs in diplomacy actually paid off."

"I'll be sure to tell the next Q I train you said that," Chakotay answered.

"How did you persuade them?" Janeway wanted to know.

"I was a Q again, for one thing. Apparently my willingness to sacrifice myself and see it through to the end this time did the trick. The Quanta don't have the power to destroy a Q. Beyond that, they wanted me watch you all die so I would know the pain I caused them."

"And did you?" asked Janeway.

"Yes." Q looked away. "It was just a vision. But they made their point."

"I'm so sorry, Q."

"Why are you sorry? Aunt Kathy, I deserved worse. And I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"All right."

"Q?" Icheb asked tentatively. "If you're a Q again, does that mean you're leaving Voyager?"

"Of course! There's too much universe out there to be confined to one ship! I mean…" Q stopped at the looks on all their faces, especially Naomi. "That came out wrong. I'll be returning to the Continuum, yes. But that's the great thing about being a Q. I can be there, or wherever I am in the universe, and still be keeping an eye on you guys. So I won't _really_ be leaving."

"And you can come back?" Naomi enquired, voice wavering a little.

"Anytime you need me."

"Oh, promises, promises," said his father's voice in a petulant tone from behind him. "You can't always be their little guardian angel to get them out of trouble. That's not what the Q are _about_."

Q studied him. "We're involved in mortals' lives when we need to be. Don't tell me that's not true."

"All right, it's _mostly_ true." The older Q crossed his arms and sniffed.

"And haven't the Q been watching my progress? You told me they were finding me highly entertaining. Why aren't we watching mortals all the time instead of staring off into the distance the way it was before Quinn's suicide?"

"We got bored," the other Q responded. "Things are the same everywhere in the universe. You should know that. Those circumstances of boredom led to your birth. We were trying something new that we hoped would give our lives meaning again."

"From what you've told me, I think I might have succeeded."

"Excuse me?" snorted his father.

"If there's one thing I've learned on Voyager, it's that there's infinite variety in the universe, and only the Q have the means to experience it all. We've been wasting it holding ourselves apart in the Continuum. Just the people on this ship are unique members of their species, or a mix of two." He gave Naomi a slight squeeze, as he still had one arm around her. "I'm not saying we should be interfering more," here he heard Janeway breathe a relieved sigh, "But we should be looking for difference, not similarities, in mortal lives. Better yet, every once in awhile deign to experience mortality ourselves. That should keep us entertained for the rest of eternity."

His father's face slowly lit up. "You know, I think he might be right!" he said to the rest of the listening Continuum. "It's definitely worth a try."

"More agreeable than boredom or war?" Aunt Kathy inquired in her driest tone.

"Oh, most definitely," agreed the older Q cheerfully, completely missing the dripping irony in her voice. His son leaned around to give his former Captain an eye-roll. One corner of her mouth quirked.

"C'mon, Dad. After all these weeks as a human, I'm dying to go somewhere human physiology can't stand. You can show me the universe as it was meant to be seen by the Q."

"What about that comet belt in the Beta quadrant? That was always your favorite place," his father suggested.

"How do you know…never mind," Q grumbled.

"That one, I didn't need Q powers to know. It was the one place you visited more than once without blowing it up or trying to change something about it," the older Q said fondly. "Say goodbye, now, son."

"Goodbye," Q repeated obediently. He let go of Naomi and gave Janeway a quick wink. Both he and his father snapped their fingers.

Of course, Q immediately reappeared on the Bridge of Voyager.

"I thought you were leaving," Chakotay remarked.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Commander," smirked Q.

"Your father didn't come back," Janeway said.

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's good and distracted. I'm in the Beta quadrant in the comet belt with him, too. Universe, I've missed these powers!" He grinned at his hands. Then he sobered. "I needed get him out of the way so I could say my real goodbyes. And keep a promise I made to you, Aunt Kathy."

"You finally decided on your project," Icheb said.

"I know. It took me long enough." Q snapped his fingers.

Nothing appeared to change.

"Great, right?" Q asked.

"What exactly did you do?" Janeway wanted to know, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"You're welcome," Q grumbled, pretending to be hurt. "You asked for something compatible with your technology, Captain. I've upgraded your sensors. Now they'll detect things that were invisible to you before; things like ambient tachyokinetic energy, the Quanta ships…and the Q, if we happen to be around in a physical form and not just observing from the Continuum. Thanks to my research, I knew exactly how to integrate it without damaging any of your current systems. It will be as if they were always there."

"Thank you." Janeway looked stunned.

"I'll leave you to figure out how to replicate the technology on other ships. Should keep you humans busy for the next hundred years or so."

Janeway gave him a sour look, but underneath she couldn't hide that she was pleased.

"Are you sure you won't stay?" Naomi asked.

Q laughed. "There's a part of me that wishes I could. I will miss living here, even if it is a little boring for my taste. But Starfleet protocols are right about the Q: never trust one. We're dangerous to you mortals, even when our motives are perfectly innocent. Which isn't often."

"In your case, I wish I could disagree, but…" Janeway said.

"I know, I've been more trouble than I'm worth," Q said proudly.

"It's part of your charm," replied Janeway with a small smile. "You do manage to keep things…interesting. We'll miss you, but I think you're ready to leave. You've grown up into the savior of the Q Continuum you were meant to be."

"I haven't saved it yet," Q pointed out.

"But you've started something," Chakotay said from behind his Captain. "I happen to think the Q will be better off from now on, with you among them."

"I agree," put in Icheb. "If becoming a Q again required you to sacrifice yourself for us, then I must conclude that they are not all bad."

"I guess you've got a point," Q admitted. "I think part of 'Q-ness' is that we don't intentionally do harm without a compelling reason, which is why they kicked me out in the first place."

"You think?" Chakotay repeated.

"They don't exactly hand out a manual on how to be a Q, any more than every human gets a manual on humanity at birth," Q retorted. "Why do you think it took me months of your time to get my powers back? It was a gradual thing. I had to learn about being a Q by not being one."

"An interesting disciplinary option," Janeway said. "But possibly the only effective means for a race of beings that have unlimited control of space, matter and time."

"And I love having my words spit back at me by a mere organic biped," Q said, with a smile to let Aunt Kathy know he didn't mean it. "Oh, well, you are my godmother, even if you aren't my Captain anymore, so I guess I'll let it slide and not transform you into an amoeba."

"I appreciate that." Janeway put on her most sardonic smirk.

"Anytime," Q grinned.

"And you're welcome back on Voyager, whenever the universe brings you our way," she added.

"Oh, don't worry, you'll see me again," he promised. "If only for the occasional game of caldes-cot. I won't cheat!" he said when Naomi propped her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe a little. When I get tired of you beating me."

Naomi laughed and came forward to give him one last hug. Q knelt down to be at her level. "I promised Neelix I'd watch out for you when he left," he whispered for her ears only. "Anytime you need me, just call. And I'll be sure to be there for every important event in your life. When you enter Starfleet, your wedding. Things like that."

"I'll be in Starfleet someday?" she asked, eyes shining.

"You even have to ask?" was his response. "Why you and Icheb want to follow so many rules is beyond me, but I guess you have to do what you're good at. And you were born for Starfleet."

Naomi grinned and squeezed him hard. Then she backed away and put her arm around her mother. Q considered spending a few more moments being sentimental to make her feel better about him leaving so soon after Neelix, but decided that was silly. He knew she was going to be fine in the future, and acting like she wasn't would hardly help. Better to be confident.

Icheb was next for goodbyes. The former drone extended a hand to shake, but Q seized it and yanked him into a hug. Icheb stiffly returned it, but Q knew his friend's closely-guarded dignity wasn't too offended. When they parted, Icheb wore a small smile.

"So long, Ichy," Q said with a falsely exaggerated salute. "Don't get so caught up in becoming the youngest admiral in Starfleet history you forget to have fun. Promise me, or I'll come back when you least want it and _make _you have some fun."

Icheb promised, looking a little dazed. Q caught Janeway mouthing "_admiral?_" to Chakotay behind Icheb's back. Her First Officer shrugged in response.

Q nodded farewell to Chakotay, and then to Tom Paris, Harry Kim, and Tuvok at their stations around the Bridge. "Tell Seven of Nine and Lieutenant Torres I said goodbye."

"B'Elanna's going to miss you," Paris said from his spot at the helm. "You've saved her a lot of time these past few months in Engineering. She'd never tell you herself, so I'll do it for her."

"Thanks," Q said. "And I appreciate you both not being too mad at me for the prank I pulled. Take care of your daughter."

"We will." Paris nodded.

Aunt Kathy was last.

"There's no way I can repay you for everything you've done, Aunt Kathy," Q said. "You gave me more chances than I deserved. Eventually I got it right."

"Can you repay me by sending us home?" Janeway asked.

Q wondered if anyone else caught the waver in her voice. He'd also been bracing himself for this question. Now that he had his Q powers back, he had a pretty good idea of the unusual circumstances that would bring this ship home. His father's "homework"—Janeway's thanks for keeping Q on when he hadn't been accepted back into the Continuum the first time—had brought Voyager nearly to the location where it needed to be for everything to take place.

Now Q had to choose. He could use his powers take the crew home now, or he could let things happen on their present course. Knowing all the good that would come out of letting Voyager stay in the Delta quadrant until it met its appointed fate, Q knew what his choice had to be.

"No," he said quietly. Janeway's face started to harden, and he hurried on, "I know I said if I got my powers back I wished I could send you home. I still do. But I can't, for the same reason the Continuum didn't just return my powers when I asked."

"And what reason is that?" Janeway demanded, but in a very quiet and controlled voice.

"It would be too easy," Q admitted. "If I've learned the lessons you set out to teach me, that working hard for something is what makes it worthwhile, then in good conscience I _can't_ send you home—much as I might want to be nice just this once."

Shock flitted across Janeway's face. Then she shook her head with a rueful smile. "You've learned our lessons too well, then. And too quickly for me."

"Well, I _am_ a Q," Q said with a shrug. Janeway laughed and enfolded him in a brief hug. Q returned it wholeheartedly. "Goodbye, Aunt Kathy. For now."

"For now," she agreed.

Q snapped his fingers and left Voyager behind.

Of course he hadn't bothered to tell them a group of hostile Hirogen was headed straight for them. They'd find out for themselves. He certainly wasn't about to do all the work for them. Where was the fun in that?

In the meantime, he had a universe to explore.

* * *

_Author's Note/Acknowledgements:_

_Yes, I know they're supposedly at peace with the Hirogen at this point. Humor me. There's got to be one ship out there who still wants to hunt live prey._

_I've enjoyed the episode "Q2" in Voyager's Season 7 for years, but the abrupt turnaround at the very end felt a little forced. Of course they couldn't keep Q Junior on board; the series was nearly over! They had to keep the focus on the main characters, not add a new one right at the end. And Junior has a way of stealing the spotlight. I still felt he hadn't done enough to justify returning to the Continuum, so I tossed the idea for this story around in my head a long time._

_Then the miracle that is Netflix instant streaming came into my life. Suddenly I had all 7 seasons of Voyager (I have DVDs of seasons 4-7) at my fingertips, plus DS9 and TNG! A new world of research was born. Bolstered by the Memory Alpha Star Trek wiki, an AU story about Q Junior actually joining the crew for its last months in the Delta quadrant was within my grasp._

_I haven't changed anything about the show's timeline, only inserted the human Q Junior in the episodes after he first appears. To my disappointment, this meant I wasn't able to include Q in the episodes "Imperfection," "Shattered," and "Workforce," as I wanted to because they happen earlier in the season. I know I could have messed with it since this is AU anyway but there was only so much I could make myself change._

_Q's relationship with Naomi surprised me. I had intended for him repair his friendship with Icheb and have that be the driving force that helped Q discover his humanity and from there his "Q-ness," but the characters had other plans._

_In this story, I directly reference most of the final episodes of Voyager, including "Q2," "Author, Author," "Homestead," "Renaissance Man," and "Endgame." I glossed over "Friendship One" and "Natural Law" because I couldn't figure out how to insert Q into the former and the latter focuses almost exclusively on Chakotay and Seven of Nine on an away mission. I also reference the VOY episodes "The Q and the Grey" and "Death Wish." TNG episode "Deja Q" also had some influence on the way this story turned out, though I tried to make Q Junior's regaining of his powers slightly different from his father's. The difference between the way Janeway and Picard handle the older Q is striking and pretty hilarious. Janeway treats him like an annoyance, but one that she finds only mildly exasperating despite knowing perfectly well how powerful the Q are. She even jokes around with him once in awhile. Picard just gets pissed when Q shows up. Really, seriously pissed. You can practically feel it smoking off him. I guess after all the crap Janeway's been through in the Delta quadrant, dealing with an all-powerful being that only shows up every so often must feel like a minor headache. And she doesn't have any personal reasons to hate Q the way Picard does._

_I've basically left it set up so that "Endgame" happens undisturbed. There has been some fan speculation that the "homework" on the datapad the older Q hands Janeway at the end of "Q2" takes them past the Borg transwarp nebula that is the catalyst for "Endgame"'s events, so I have included it because I liked the idea._

_Oh, and you can ship Q and Icheb all you want. I don't. I go with what the characters are telling me, and when I asked about a romance they said "Absolutely not."And then Q said something to the effect of "But maybe throw in a few possible hints here and there just to tease the shippers." I suspect he only said this to fluster Icheb, but I pointed out that I don't have to do anything deliberately. Shippers will see what they want to see regardless of authorly intentions, as is the case with all non-canon shippers in every fandom (I include myself in this statement, see my profile page for my short list of noncanon ships). They agreed that this was indeed one of the constants of the universe and told me to proceed with the story. Thus any hints you think you see are purely coincidental._

_Much thanks are due to Storyteller Knight, who read this first years ago when she had barely the faintest glimmer of what Star Trek was. Nevertheless, Q and Icheb's little birthday field trip came about due to her insistence that the story was too short and needed more substance. She read it again right before I posted, this time with much of TOS under her belt, and this time pronounced it fit to go out into the world. For the time she took and the suggestions I owe her humble gratitude._

_I hope you enjoyed._

_Over and out,_

_SamoaPhoenix9_


End file.
